The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has set 24 June as the new deadline for submitting the investigation report in the Ashulia body-burning case, which involves the alleged extrajudicial killing and subsequent torching of six young men during the July–August 2024 mass uprising.
The three-member ICT bench, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, issued the order on Sunday after granting a time extension requested by the prosecution.
Prosecutor Mizanul Islam filed the plea, while Prosecutor Md Saimum Reza Talukder represented the state during the hearing.
Six accused — former additional superintendent of police (Crime and Operations) of Dhaka district Md Abdullahil Kafi, former additional SP (Savar Circle) Md Shahidul Islam, former Savar police station officer-in-charge AFM Sayed, detective branch inspector Md Arafat Hossain, sub-inspector Malek, and constable Mukul — were produced before the tribunal.
On April 15, the tribunal had already ordered that Kafi, Shahidul Islam, and Hossain be sent to jail. The others remain in custody as the investigation proceeds.
The case centres on a disturbing event from August 5, 2024, at the peak of the anti-government protests led largely by students and young workers.
According to the prosecution, six protesters were detained by police in the Ashulia area, shot dead, and their bodies placed in a police van that was then set on fire. The alleged intent was to fabricate a narrative that the protesters themselves had torched the vehicle.
Chief Prosecutor Md Tajul Islam previously stated that one victim was reportedly still alive when the van was set alight, calling it one of the most heinous crimes of the uprising.
The incident provoked nationwide outrage and condemnation from human rights groups, who cited it as emblematic of a broader pattern of police brutality during the protests, which saw widespread arrests and deaths amid what observers described as the disproportionate use of force against mostly peaceful demonstrators.
Two complaints concerning the incident were submitted to the tribunal on September 11, 2024, and later merged into a single case.
On 24 December, arrest warrants were issued for several suspects, including former local MP Saiful Islam, who remains at large.
This case is among the first to be tried under the ICT’s expanded mandate. Originally established to prosecute war crimes from 1971, the tribunal was restructured in late 2024 to investigate contemporary human rights violations and crimes against humanity linked to the recent political unrest.