Even after 11 years, the trial over the killing of blogger Oyasiqur Rahman Babu in the Tejgaon area of the capital remains incomplete.
He was murdered on 30 March 2015. Following the judicial process, the case had reached the verdict stage on 27 October 2020.
However, the pronouncement of the verdict was deferred as it was noted that charges against the accused had not been properly framed.
The trial later resumed after charges were reformulated. Despite a further five years having passed, the case remains unresolved. It is currently stuck at the stage of the accused presenting their defence.
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi said the previous “fascist” government had not given any importance to the trial of such cases.
“They were always busy with false political cases,” he said. He added that the current government is working to ensure justice in these cases, noting that the recording of testimonies has already been completed.
“The trial will be concluded after the accused present their defence and arguments within a short time,” he said.
“We are actively pursuing these cases.”
According to enquiries, the case is currently under trial at the court of Dhaka 12th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Bulbul Islam.
The case is at the stage of the accused presenting their defence, with the next hearing scheduled for 10 May.
Earlier, on 4 October 2020, following the conclusion of arguments, the court fixed 27 October of that year for delivering the verdict.
However, due to errors in framing the charges, the court deferred the verdict upon a prosecution plea and re-framed the charges.
Subsequently, the trial resumed with fresh recording of testimonies, during which the court completed the examination of 24 witnesses.
The accused in the case are Zikrullah alias Hasan, Md Ariful Islam alias Arif alias Erfan alias Mushfiq, Md Saiful Islam alias Mansur, Junaid Ahmed alias Junaid alias Taher, and Abdullah alias Md Akram Hossain alias Hasib alias Borovai.
Among them, Junaid Ahmed and Abdullah have been absconding since the outset.
According to the case statement, blogger Oyasiqur Rahman Babu was killed on the morning of 30 March 2015 while on his way to work after leaving his residence in the Begunbari Deepika Dhal area of Tejgaon in the capital.
Immediately after the incident, with the help of locals, police detained two madrasa students—Zikrullah and Ariful Islam.
Three machetes used in the killing were recovered from them. Zikrullah and Ariful confessed that Oyasiqur was murdered for his writings on Islam on Facebook, blogs, and other social media platforms.
Later that night, Oyasiqur’s brother-in-law Monir Hossain filed a murder case with Tejgaon Police Station.
The two detained students were subsequently shown arrested in the case.
Following the investigation, on 1 September 2015, the investigating officer Detective Branch Inspector Shah Md Mashiur Rahman submitted a charge sheet against five members of Ansarullah Bangla Team.
On 20 July 2016, Dhaka Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge SM Ziaur Rahman ordered the trial to begin by framing charges against the accused.
During the proceedings, the court recorded the testimonies of 24 out of 40 witnesses in the case. Attempts to contact the plaintiff Monir Hossain Masud for comment were unsuccessful, as his mobile phone was found to be switched off.
Lawyer for the accused Zikrullah and Arif, Abdur Rashid Molla, told TIMES of Bangladesh that they were not present at the scene.
He said the two madrasa students had been arrested even before the killing took place. He also claimed that the charge sheet in the case contained errors at every stage.
“We expect that they will be acquitted after the completion of the trial,” he said.
The case has remained unresolved for so long due to various shortcomings, including the failure to produce witnesses, he added.
