Then police commissioner instructed cops to shoot
During Ershad regime in 1988, then Chittagong police commissioner Mirza Rakibul Huda instructed police to open fire on a procession of the then Awami League-led alliance in the port city, testified two prosecution witnesses before a Chittagong court yesterday.
Chittagong Divisional Special Judge Mir Ruhul Amin recorded the testimonies of Ashok Biswas and Abu Sayeed, said public prosecutor Mejbah Uddin Chowdhury.
Ashok's brother, Swapan Biswas, was killed while Sayeed, the then lecturer of Katirhat Mohila Degree College, was injured during the incident, according to their testimonies.
Ashok said Swapan, a student of City College, went to Laldighir Par area to attend the AL rally of Sheikh Hasina.
“At about 2:00pm, I heard that many people were killed and wounded in police firing in the area. The following day, we found Swapan's bullet-hit body at Chittagong Medical College Hospital,” said Ashok.
After an autopsy, the body was cremated at the city's Abhoy Mitra crematorium under the supervision of police, he said.
Abu Sayeed, mentioning him as an active member of the then alliance, said his left arm was broken as police attacked the procession.
The court fixed June 3 for the next hearing, said the PP.
On January 24, in 1988, police opened fire on the procession with a truck carrying the then AL President Sheikh Hasina in Old Bangladesh Bank area, killing 24 persons. It was heading to Laldighi Maidan where a rally was supposed to be staged. After end of Ershad era, on March 5, 1992, a case was filed with a Chittagong court and police submitted the charge sheet against 47 persons in 1998.
In 1999, CID submitted a supplementary charge sheet in the case accusing eight persons, including Mirza Rakibul Huda and Inspector Gobinda Chandra Mondal.
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