The chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Mohammad Aminul Islam has said that the investigation into the killings during the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel on 5 May 2013 has been completed.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he said that the draft investigation report is currently undergoing legal and technical review. Once the final report is submitted after 21 July, the prosecution will formally file charges before the tribunal.
He said evidence has been found against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the then home minister, the heads of several law enforcement agencies and a number of journalists, who will be named as accused in the case.
According to the chief prosecutor, the investigation agency completed its probe after reviewing witness statements, video footage, photographs, official documents and other evidence collected over a long period. The final report is now awaiting legal and technical verification before submission.
Former foreign minister Dipu Moni and journalists Mozammel Babu and Farzana Rupa have already been shown arrested in connection with the case. The chief prosecutor recently told reporters that preliminary evidence had also been found linking Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haq Inu to the incident.
According to prosecution sources, the identities of 58 people killed in connection with the Hefazat-e-Islam rally have so far been confirmed. Of them, 32 were killed in Dhaka, 20 in Narayanganj, five in Chattogram and one in Cumilla. Sheikh Hasina will be the principal accused in the case.
The prosecution alleges that journalists Mozammel Babu and Farzana Rupa attempted to divert attention from what it described as the mass killings at Shapla Chattar and conceal the actual death toll. It claims they sought to obscure the true nature of the incident through a programme titled “Samikaran,” aired on Ekattor Television shortly after the events of 5 May 2013, which allegedly suggested that no casualties had occurred at Shapla Chattar.
Nine people have so far been arrested in the case. They are Dipu Moni, former state minister for home affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku, retired Major General Ziaul Ahsan, former inspector general of police AKM Shahidul Hoque, former deputy inspector general (DIG) Mollah Nazrul Islam, Shahriar Kabir, president of the advisory committee of the Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, former DIG Abdul Jalil Mondal, and journalists Mozammel Babu and Farzana Rupa.
The complaint over the killings was filed with the ICT chief prosecutor by Hefazat-e-Islam leader Azizul Haque on behalf of Hefazat leaders Junayed Al Habib and Maulana Mamunul Haque. The complaint initially named 21 people as accused.
