Sabrina Afroz Semonti, sister of martyr Mahmudur Rahman Saikat, testified at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on Wednesday, describing how her 24-year-old brother was killed by police bullets during the July mass uprising in Mohammadpur, Dhaka.
Prosecution was represented during the hearing by Prosecutor Tarek Abdullah.
Semonti submitted testimony accusing 28 individuals – including former Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh – of involvement in shootings and attacks on protesters in the Mohammadpur area.
Decision to join the movement
Semonti, a 24-year-old student at Bangladesh University, testified that her brother Saikat, also a student, was killed by police gunfire on 19 July 2024 whilst participating in the student movement at Nurjahan Road, Mohammadpur.
Saikat believed the students’ demand for logical quota reform was justified. On Thursday, 18 July, he initially expressed his intention to join the demonstrations after seeing Facebook posts showing Dhaka University student Tanni bleeding following torture by Chhatra League cadres.
Although his mother initially restrained him, Saikat left home that afternoon with his friend Md Arafat Hossain to join the movement without informing his mother.
While at the protest location, Saikat phoned his mother asking her to close all doors and windows at home due to intense gunfire, as police alongside armed cadres of Chhatra League and Jubo League fired at protesting students.
After his mother scolded him and demanded his return, Saikat returned home after evening. That night, Saikat became deeply emotional after seeing a Facebook post by the aunt of martyr Farhan Faiyaz confirming Faiyaz’s martyrdom.
On Friday, 19 July, following Juma prayers and lunch, Saikat left home once again to join the protest in front of a shoe store at the southern end of Nurjahan Road.
His mother attempted to reach him repeatedly by phone, but he did not answer. She then called Semonti, who was at the Bashundhara Convention Centre.
Semonti telephoned her brother at 3:26pm – their final conversation – and urged him to return home, to which Saikat replied that he would return shortly.
Fatal phone call and hospital scene
As their father continuously dialled Saikat’s mobile phone, a fellow protester eventually answered and said, “The owner of this phone has died from police bullets. Go quickly to Suhrawardy Hospital, otherwise you will not even get the body.”
Their father immediately alerted his cousin Saifur Rahman Haider Konok and Md Arafat Hossain, asking them to head to the hospital at once.
Upon arriving at Suhrawardy Hospital, they found Saikat’s bloody body lying on a stretcher outside the morgue. A bullet had entered the left side of his head above the ear and exited through the right side.
Semonti also rushed to the hospital after being informed by her mother, witnessing police firing at student protesters along the route.
At the morgue, Semonti saw her brother’s body alongside five other deceased protesters, including martyr Raju, a local Mohammadpur activist, all bearing multiple gunshot wounds.
At approximately 9pm that night, Saikat’s body was washed at Markazul Islam in Mohammadpur and kept there. Her cousin informed her that armed cadres of police, Chhatra League, and Jubo League were stationed beneath their building.
A curfew was imposed that night. When the curfew was relaxed at 11am the following day, Saikat’s body was taken home and subsequently buried at the Mohammadpur Jame Mosque Graveyard.
No official paperwork was provided by hospital authorities at the time. It was only several days after Sheikh Hasina fled the country that Suhrawardy Hospital issued Saikat’s death certificate, which stated the cause of death as “gunshot.”
Semonti noted that when she collected the certificate on 5 August, she observed numerous bullet-riddled bodies at the hospital.
Accused individuals and demands for capital punishment
In her testimony, Semonti held deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former additional DIG of Police Prolay Kumar Joardar, former DMP joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarkar, and former additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of Mohammadpur zone Rowshanul Haq Saikat directly responsible for her brother’s death.
She also named Awami League’s Sheikh Bazlur Rahman, Azizul Haq Rana, MA Sattar, former commissioner Asif, commissioner Syed Hasan Noor Islam Raston, commissioner Rajib, Jahangir Kabir Nanak’s APS Biplob, Md Tofael Siddique Tuhin, Ismail Hossain, Bicchu Jalal, Naimul Hasan Russel, KM Fazle Rabbi, and Md Sajjad Hossain, among others.
Semonti stated she gathered these names from media reports, newspapers, and social media, alleging they fired upon her brother and fellow protesters. She demanded the maximum penalty – death by hanging – for all killings committed during the July movement.
Case status and charges
Of the 28 accused in the murder case filed over the Mohammadpur violence, four suspects have been arrested:
- Former Ansar member Mohammad Omar Faruq
- Mohammadpur Thana Chhatra League President Naimul Hasan Russel
- Former Thana Chhatra League Vice-President Md Sajjad Hossain
- Jubo League activist KM Fazle Rabbi
The remaining accused, including former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former additional DIG Prolay Kumar Joardar, former joint bommissioner Biplob Kumar Sarkar, and former ADC Rowshanul Haq Saikat, remain absconding.
According to the case statement, violent attacks and killings occurred in the Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur areas on 18 July 2024, resulting in the deaths of Farhan Faiyaz, Md Mahin Miah, and Md Roni.
On the following day, 19 July, six more individuals were killed – Al Shahriar Hossain, Md Raju Ahmed, Mahamudur Rahman Saikat, Md Ismail, Md Jasim Uddin, and Zobayed Hossain Imon.
