A court has rejected a plea to reinstate Road Transport Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam and eight others as defendants in the murder case of Deepto TV broadcasting official Tanzil Jahan Tamim in the capital’s Hatirjheel Mahanagar Residential Area.
Dhaka 13th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Zahidul Islam passed the order on Monday, court bench assistant Sohel Mia confirmed.
The nine accused had previously been discharged from the case, prompting the plaintiff to file a review petition.
“The court has rejected the petition. The case will proceed against those named in the charge sheet,” Sohel said.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the ruling, the plaintiff’s lawyer Abdul Alim said they would challenge the order in the High Court.
Meanwhile, Minister Rabiul’s lawyer, Masud Ahmed Talukder, said the case had been filed on the basis of false allegations.
On 10 October 2024, Tamim was attacked at his residence in Mahanagar Residential Area under Hatirjheel Police Station. He was taken to hospital in critical condition, where doctors declared him dead.
The following day, Tamim’s father, Sultan Ahmed, filed a murder case with Hatirjheel Police Station, naming 16 people, including Minister Rabiul, also managing director of developer company Pleasant Properties and a member of the BNP Central Executive Committee; and Mohammad Mamun, deputy director of the Department of Narcotics Control, as well as 11 to 12 unidentified persons.
On the day the case was filed, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) held a press conference disclosing that Pleasant Properties had constructed a building on land owned by Tamim’s father under a contract. Following a dispute over the distribution of flats in that building, allegations emerged that representatives of the developer company, Mamun, and several others beat Tamim to death.
Following an investigation, Sub-inspector (SI) Zakaria Alam of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), submitted a charge sheet against 13 individuals and a teenager on 10 December last year. However, the officer recommended the discharge of nine persons, including Rabiul, citing a lack of “specific information” against them.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the findings, Tamim’s father Sultan Ahmed filed a no-confidence petition on 8 January, raising specific allegations against all nine people and requesting a re-investigation.
On 3 March, Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Muhammad Jonaid rejected the petition, accepted the charge-sheet, and discharged the nine individuals, observing that no further investigation appeared necessary.
