Sinha fell to ground after multiple gun shots

An eye-witness yesterday told a judge that Maj (retd) Sinha Rashed Khan was shot dead by now suspended police inspector Liaqat Ali.

In his testimony to the Cox's Bazar District and Sessions Judge's Court, a local named Abdul Hamid said he was  on his way to the beach to run an errand when he saw the shooting.

"When I was near the check point on Marine Drive, I saw police officer Liaqat Ali shoot Sinha. I heard multiple gun shots. Then, Sinha fell to the ground," said a source present in the courtroom, quoting Hamid as saying.

A resident of Teknaf's Shamlapur area, Hamid used to sell cooked food to fishermen on the beach.

"Like the other days, I was on my way to the marina that night near Shamlapur Bazar to collect the money some fishermen owed me," he said, describing how he came to witness the murder on July 31, 2020.

Soon after the shooting, former officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station Pradeep Kumar Das arrived there with a team of policemen, he said. After talking to Liaqat, Pradeep kicked Sinha multiple times.

"I saw the incident. A few moments later, the body was loaded on a mini truck which then left the scene."

Hamid claimed that he knew Liaqat and Pradeep before. But he learnt about the identity of Sinha after the incident.

The deposition began around 10:00am and went on until around 3:00pm. Judge Mohammad Ismail recorded it.

Two other eyewitnesses, Firoj Mahmud and Shawkat Ali, also testified at the court yesterday. Firoj is a rickshaw-puller and Shawkat is a wage labourer. Both of them are residents of Teknaf.

The court source said their account of the events were similar to that of Hamid's.

The lawyer of the accused then cross-examined their statements. The proceedings ended around 5:45pm.

All the 15 accused were present at the court yesterday, said Public Prosecutor Faridul Alam.

Yesterday was the first day of the third phase of witness testimony. It will end tomorrow.

The court summoned a total of 23 witnesses to testify in the three days.

From August 23-25, the court recorded the statements of Sinha's sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous and his associate Shahedul Islam Sifat in the first phase.

In second phase from September 5-8, local fish trader Mohammad Ali, auto-rickshaw driver Kamal Hossain, a local mosque's muezzin Hafez Mohammad Amin and a local mosque's Imam Shahidul Islam made their depositions before the court.

There are 83 witnesses in the case.

On June 27, the court framed charges against 15 accused. Of them, 12 are police personnel, including Pradeep, Liaqat, sub-inspector Md Shahjahan, and assistant sub-inspector Liton Mia. They were all suspended from the force.

Investigators submitted the charge sheet on December 13 last year.

The formal trial began on August 23.

Sinha, 36, was making travel documentaries for a YouTube channel called Just Go and was returning to Cox's Bazar from Teknaf when he was killed in police firing at a check point of Armed Police Battalion (APBn) in Shamlapur area.

Accused officers claimed that they tried to search Sinha's vehicle when Sinha pointed his pistol at them, prompting them to shoot back in self-defence. They also claimed that they seized drugs from the vehicle.

Sinha's elder sister Sharmin later filed a murder case with Cox's Bazar Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court accusing Pradeep, Nanda Dulal, and several others.