The plaintiff in the murder case of Sonaimuri student Asif has expressed outrage upon hearing the names of accused listed in the chargesheet. He claims that many names have been added to the accused list due to political and financial motives.
Morshed Alam, father of 26-year-old victim Mohammad Asif – who was killed during an anti-discrimination student protest in Sonaimuri – has grown doubtful about getting justice for his son’s murder. He alleges that names of people he never accused have been included in the chargesheet.
According to case details, on August 5 last year, students and locals took out a celebratory procession on Sonaimuri bypass road upon hearing news of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation.
During the rally, an attack left three dead – Tanvir Hossain Mahmud (25), Mohammad Yasin (15), Hasan (14), and another Yasin (30). Asif and several others were shot during the incident and later succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on August 16.
When police initially refused to file a case, Asif’s father Morshed Alam lodged a complaint in court.
Mohammad Shah Alam, inspector of Noakhali Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, stated that Judge Mohammad Sazzad Hossain of Noakhali’s 6th Additional Judicial Magistrate Court accepted the complaint on August 19 and ordered Sonaimuri Police Station to register an FIR.
The chargesheet names 39 individuals, including former MPs Ekramul Karim Chowdhury (Noakhali-4) and HM Ibrahim (Noakhali-1), ex-upazila chairman AFM Babu, upazila Awami League president Mominul Islam Baker, and former mayor of Chaumuhani municipality Akhtar Hossain Faisal.
Plaintiff Morshed Alam alleges that a man named Farhan collected signatures during Asif’s burial and arbitrarily included names in the chargesheet.
“I don’t know who shot my son – I didn’t witness it. I only heard about the shooting from others. After my son died during treatment, we buried him in Begumganj. There, Farhan took signatures on papers for the case,” he said.
“I don’t recognise any of the accused named in the chargesheet. I’ve been betrayed in the name of this case. Now, money is being demanded to remove names from the chargesheet. Even 7-8 BNP leaders have been falsely implicated – this is deeply unfortunate. I demand justice against those who manipulated the chargesheet.”
Morshed has grown increasingly skeptical about getting justice amid these developments.
Meanwhile, Sonaimuri Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Morshed Alam responded to the plaintiff’s claims: “The case is under investigation. The plaintiff filed the case in court but now claims he doesn’t know the accused. There are also allegations that he is taking money from some accused to file affidavits. Everything will be clear after the investigation.”
Earlier, local leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement had raised questions about Asif’s death, claiming he was shot while examining looted police weapons.