Inu to be named accused in Shapla Chattar crimes against humanity case

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Jasad) President and former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu will be named an accused in a crimes against humanity case over the 2013 killings during the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka, Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Aminul Islam of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) said today (2 July).

Speaking to reporters at his office at the tribunal, Aminul said investigators had found evidence of Inu's alleged involvement in the killings that took place during the overnight operation at Shapla Chattar in May 2013.

He said the prosecution plans to submit the investigation report and formal charges in the case in the last week of this month.

The development comes days after the ICT, on 30 June, sentenced Inu to 30 years' rigorous imprisonment in a separate crimes against humanity case over the killing of six people in Kushtia during the July Uprising.

Following the political changeover, Hefazat on 26 November last year filed a complaint with the tribunal against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 49 others over the Shapla Chattar killings. The investigation into that complaint is ongoing.

In the latest case, former minister Dipu Moni, former Ekattor Media Limited Managing Director Mozammel Haque Babu and former Ekattor TV chief reporter Farzana Rupa have been shown arrested.

Others currently under arrest in the case include former state minister for home affairs Shamsul Haque, Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee President Shahriar Kabir, retired Major General Ziaul Ahsan, former inspector general of police AKM Shahidul Hoque and Deputy Inspector General of Police Molla Nazrul Islam.

Aminul also said investigators have so far identified 58 people who were killed in connection with the Hefazat rally centred on Shapla Chattar in Motijheel in May 2013. The identified victims are from Dhaka, Narayanganj, Cumilla and Chattogram, he said.