Bangladesh court orders report in case against Hasina to be submitted by November 28: Report

A court in Bangladesh has directed the police to submit its investigation report into a murder case involving former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 23 others by November 28, according to a PTI report.

Based on local media reports, the report stated that Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ziadur Rahman had made it mandatory to submit the report after the case was presented to the court.

The case stemmed from the death of an 18-year-old college student in Mirpur, Dhaka, during a crackdown on student-led protests against the Awami League government’s quota system, which ultimately contributed to Hasina’s ouster.

The victim’s brother filed the lawsuit on Aug. 15, alleging that those accused either directly participated in or facilitated the violence that led to his brother’s death and injuries to other students.

Those accused include Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former Law Minister Anisul Huq and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

Currently, Hasina has a total of 225 cases, including 194 for murder, 16 for crimes against humanity and genocide, three for kidnapping, 11 for attempted murder and one for the attack on a rally of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim government has officially banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party, and declared it a “terrorist organisation”.

Hasina, 77, fled to India on August 5 amid violent protests that have resulted in hundreds of deaths since mid-July.

Student-led protests against public sector job quotas that began in July have escalated into the deadliest unrest since the country’s independence in 1971, resulting in more than 700 deaths and scores of injuries.