Bangladesh tribunal indicts former PM Hasina on mass murder charges
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Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal on Sunday indicted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two others on several charges, including mass murder, for their alleged role in the violent crackdown on student-led protests last year.
Sunday's proceedings marked the start of Hasina's trial in absentia nearly 10 months after the ouster of her government following the protests.
“We do hereby take into cognizance the charges,” the three-judge ICT bench said after a prosecution team formally accused them of attempting to tame the protests using brutal force.
The tribunal simultaneously issued a fresh arrest warrant against Hasina and then home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
The third accused, the then inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, is in custody to stand trial in person.
The prosecution charged Hasina with exercising absolute authority to ruthlessly suppress the uprising. The two others were accused of provocation, complicity, abatement, instigation and facilitation.
All three were accused of superior command responsibility for the crimes.
Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam urged the court to treat the Awami League as a criminal organisation since the crimes were committed on a partisan basis.
Under the ICT-BD law, if convicted, Hasina and the co-accused could face the death penalty.
The proceedings of the tribunal were broadcast live on television for the first time in Bangladesh's history.
The proceedings were scheduled to begin at 9.30 am but were slightly delayed as unidentified people hurled three crude bombs at the gate of the tribunal hours before the beginning of the trial.
Police said two of the bombs exploded while the third was defused while they were trying to identify and arrest the miscreants, examining CCTV footage.
Ousted on August 5 last year after the agitation, Hasina faces multiple cases in Bangladesh.
The ICT-BD earlier issued an arrest warrant against Hasina while the interim government sought her repatriation from India in a diplomatic note. New Delhi has only acknowledged receipt with no further comment.
Most senior leaders and officials of Hasina’s party and government were arrested to face charges like mass murder during the July-August protests last year that left hundreds of people, including students and policemen, dead.
According to a UN rights office report, some 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year as violence continued even after the fall of Hasina's Awami League regime.
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Man chased, brutally stabbed inside public toilet in northwest Delhi; one arrested; juvenile held
New Delhi (PTI): An alleged road rage incident took a fatal turn when a 27-year-old factory worker was chased down by assailants and stabbed multiple times inside a public toilet in northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar area, police said on Thursday.
According to police, the incident took place on Wednesday night, when witnesses saw the victim, Santosh Kumar, running into a public toilet in a desperate bid to save his life, with his attackers hot on his heels.
"A PCR call was received at 6:23 pm on April 8 regarding a man being stabbed inside the compound of a Sulabh Sauchalaya located at the fish market in Wazirpur Industrial Area," a senior police officer said.
A police team rushed to the spot and found the victim lying in a pool of blood inside the toilet premises. The victim, originally from Nepal, was residing in Macchi Market area, the official said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the incident stemmed from an altercation between the victim and a motorcycle rider. The verbal spat soon escalated into a physical scuffle, during which the accused, along with an associate, allegedly attacked Santosh with a knife.
Police sources said in a desperate attempt to save himself, the injured victim ran towards the nearby public toilet and tried to latch the door from inside. Eyewitness accounts suggest he tried to take refuge inside the public toilet and shut the door to prevent his attackers from entering. However, he was chased down, overpowered, and stabbed multiple times.
Santosh collapsed on the spot, where he later succumbed to his injuries, police said.
A case under sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (common intentions) was registered at Ashok Vihar police station and an investigation was taken up.
During the probe, police arrested one accused identified as Tanish (19), a resident of CSA Colony in Macchi Market area, and apprehended a juvenile allegedly involved in the incident.
Police said the motorcycle used by the accused, which they had abandoned while fleeing after the attack, was recovered near the crime scene.
Family members and acquaintances of the deceased expressed shock over the killing. Santosh's uncle, who reached the spot after being informed, recounted the scene.
"When I came here, I saw him lying on the floor, dead. I noticed that he had been stabbed twice. I am not aware of what exactly happened. He was just 27 years old and used to work in a steel company with me. I don't know how many people were involved in the attack. We are from Nepal, and I have been working here for 15 years. I think he was stabbed outside and later came inside the toilet to save himself. There was a bike outside which I think belonged to the attackers," he said.
Police said the motive behind the crime appears to be road rage -- a sudden and heated altercation on the road that spiralled into a violent assault resulting in the victim's death.
Efforts are underway to identify and apprehend any other persons involved in the attack. Police teams are analysing CCTV footage from the surrounding area and examining local witnesses to piece together the sequence of events.
