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Published : 24 Jan 2019, 01:54 PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, one of the survivors of the 1988 shooting, had aired frustration about the delay while speaking at a programme three months ago.
Progress in the case has been at a standstill for six months due to confusion on whether or not the main suspect, then Police Commissioner Mirza Rakibul Huda, was dead.
State counsels said they are hoping the issue will be settled during the case’s next hearing on Mar 7.
Huda's lawyer told the Chattogram Special Judges Court that his client was dead, attaching a death certificate from US to the petition in July last year. The court ordered police to submit a report on the matter following a state petition.
But the state found the police report ‘unsatisfactory’ and again appealed the court, which ordered the home ministry to submit a report. “That report has not been filed,” said state counsel Mejbah Uddin Chowdhury.
“The court had asked the Home Ministry for a report. Now the Home Ministry has written to the Foreign Ministry for their help. There have been no responses yet,” he told bdnews24.com.
During the end of military ruler HM Ershad’s regime, police opened fire at Awami League chief Hasina's motorcade headed to a rally at Laldighi field on Jan 24, 1988.
While inaugurating a memorial built to honour the 24 victims in November last year, Hasina urged necessary measures for finishing the trial.
DEAD OR ALIVE?
Mirza Rakibul Huda, former police commissioner of Chittagong, had ordered the shooting on the motorcade, said Awami League Presidium Member Engineer Mosharraf Hossain in court.
The “unprovoked” police firing that left at least 24 dead was part of a “premeditated plan to assassinate Sheikh Hasina”, Hossain said during his witness testimony on Jan 26 of 2016.
Huda moved to the US to live with his adult children after the death of his wife, according to the court-ordered report submitted by Chittagong Metropolitan Police in last September.
“His paternal cousin Emon Mirza told us he died in US. But we have no information on whether he is alive or dead,” said the police report.
The state is waiting to hear from the Home Ministry, who is now seeking the help of the foreign ministry to find out whether Huda is alive or dead.
Among those who died on Laldighi field that day was Ethlebert Gomez Kishore. “So many years have passed since the incident. This has to see the light of justice. And the government should provide assistance to victims’ families,” said Rodrix Kampu, a relative of Gomez.
Lawyer Md Shahidul Huda filed the case in 1992 after Ershad was deposed through a mass movement. Shahidul has since passed away.
The case did not make progress under the BNP government that followed, and was only revived in 1996 when the Awami League came to power.
The Criminal Investigation Department was ordered by court to probe the killing. It filed the first charge sheet on Jan 12, 1997. The second charge sheet filed on Nov 3, 1998, following extended probe, named eight police personnel including Huda.
The others are Kotwali Zone Patrol Inspector JC Mandal and constables Abdus Salam, Mushfiqur Rahman, Pradip Barua, Bashir Uddin, Md Abdullah and Mamtaj Uddin.
No depositions were heard in the case in the period between May, 2001 and August, 2006. The same happened between July, 2009 and January, 2016.
The key witnesses in the case were Sheikh Hasina, Tofail Ahmed, Amir Hossain Amu, Sajeda Chowdhury, Abdur Razzak, MA Jalil, MA Mannan, Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu and Ataur Rahman Kaiser.
