Court throws out case against Asif Mahmud, 41 others over ‘police killings during July Uprising’

A Dhaka metropolitan magistrate dismisses the plea, plaintiff's lawyer says

A Dhaka court has dismissed an application seeking to file a case against 42 people, including National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain over the alleged killing of 12 police officers in Dhaka’s Jatrabari during the July Uprising.

Jalal Hossain, the younger brother of the then Jatrabari police chief Abul Hossain, filed the plea at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Anik Dewan confirmed that Magistrate Rounak Jahan Taki dismissed the petition.

Other high-profile individuals named in the unsuccessful filing included MP Abdul Hannan Masud, Abdul Kader, Abu Baker Majumder, Rifat Rashid, Hasib Al Islam, Nusrat Tabassum, Umama Fatema, and Arif Sohel.

The Awami League government was toppled in a mass uprising following the July 2024 movement.

The interim government later released a list of 44 police officers killed in violence across the country during the protests.

The plea alleged that around 5:30pm on Aug 5, the final day of the July movement, protesters led by Asif set fire to at least seven or eight vehicles and looted property in front of Jatrabari Police Station.

It also claimed they seized control of the station through "attacks and vandalism”.

The filing stated that police officers were "beaten" and sensitive government documents were set ablaze.

It specifically alleged that OC Abul Hossain and 11 others were "hacked to death" with the assistance of Asif and his associates.