Taposh and Nanak ordered attack on July protesters

A prosecution witness yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that armed Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League activists attacked protesters in Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur during the July uprising on the instructions of former DSCC mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and former lawmaker Jahangir Kabir Nanak.

The witness, Wasif Munim, said armed activists attacked protesters around 1:00pm on July 18, 2024.

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“We were dispersed, and I was sitting on a footpath in an alley off Dhanmondi 27 when I saw my classmate, Farhan Fayaz, being carried away after being shot in the chest,” he told the tribunal.

Wasif, now a first-year student at Mugda Medical College, said he rushed Fayaz to a nearby hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Testifying in a crimes against humanity case against Taposh, Nanak and 26 others over the killing of nine people, including Fayaz and another student, in Mohammadpur during the July uprising, Wasif said police also attacked the protesters that day.

He further alleged that former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman and DMP official Biplob Kumar failed to take legal action against those responsible.

Ending his testimony, Wasif sought justice for the victims.

In another crimes against humanity case, prosecution witness NRB Mamun, a Jubo Dal activist from Narayanganj, described a deadly attack on protesters at Jalkuri on the Narayanganj Link Road on July 19.

He testified that Shamim Osman, his son Ayan Osman, nephew Ajmeri Osman and around 100 armed Awami League activists attacked demonstrators, leaving him injured by rubber bullets.

Mamun said two protesters -- Adil and Yeasin -- were shot dead on the spot.

While fleeing, he saw another protester, Swajon, being shot, allegedly by Ayan Osman, and helped carry him to a Narayanganj hospital.

According to Mamun, the hospital refused to treat injured protesters on Shamim Osman’s instructions. Swajon’s relatives then took him to Dhaka, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Shamim and 11 others are accused in the case linked to killing of 10 people and causing injuries to dozen of others in Narayanganj.

Meanwhile, in a separate crimes against humanity case, former Agailjhara Police Sub-Inspector Monoranjan Mistry told the ICT-2 that then Barishal superintendent of police AKM Ehsanullah had ordered him to take part in a “crossfire” operation, saying it had been directed by then Awami League lawmaker and chief whip Abul Hasanat Abdullah.

He said that when he refused, Ehsanullah threatened to ruin his career.

Monoranjan claimed he later heard gunfire and subsequently learned that Tipu Hawlader, then joint secretary of Agailjhara Upazila Chhatra Dal, and Kabir Mollah, organising secretary of a local Jatiotabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha unit, had been killed in the crossfire.

He told the tribunal that he later prepared Tipu Hawlader’s inquest report.

Abul Hasanat Abdullah, AKM Ehsanullah, and former Uzirpur Police Station assistant sub-inspectors Mahabul Islam and Jasim Uddin are accused in the crimes against humanity case.