Sheikh Hasina, Top Leaders Named in July Emad Murder Case; Mother Says She Does Not Know the Complainant: “My Son Is Being Abused Even After Death”

❐ Staff Reporter

Police have filed a chargesheet against 45 people, including then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in the murder case of private car driver Emdadul Haque, who was killed in Dhaka’s Badda during clashes in July 2024. However, the family of the deceased has raised questions about the list of accused. They also know the plaintiff in the case. They have also raised questions about his motives.

According to the family, despite not being Emdad’s relative, the plaintiff Saiful Islam framed several people in the area by filing the case.

The plaintiff in the case, Saiful, has identified himself as Emdad’s cousin. But Emdad’s mother, Mosammat Hasina Begum, said they didn’t even know Saiful before the case was filed.

Saiful had named 121 people, including Sheikh Hasina, in the complaint. In addition, 100 to 200 other unidentified people were named as accused.

After the investigation, the investigation officer of the case, Inspector Aminul Islam of the Baridhara branch of the police’s Anti-Terrorism Unit’s Operations Branch, filed a chargesheet in the court, accusing Sheikh Hasina and 45 others. The chargesheet recommended the acquittal of 77 people named in the complaint.

Emdad and Saiful both live in Dhawa village under Bhandaria police station in Pirojpur. However, Hasina Begum confirmed that Saiful did not contact Emdad’s family before filing the case.

He said, “We did not file any case. Later I found out that someone from the neighboring area was filing the case. I did not even know him. He did not contact us before filing the case. He is contacting us after filing the case.”

Raising allegations against Saiful, Hasina Begum said, “He has framed some people from the area in the case. They live in the village. And filed the case in Dhaka. They were also in the area during the incident (during the agitation). He has framed the people intentionally. He may have had enmity with him, that is why he is doing this.”

Saiful told the reporter, “We will talk about the case in a meeting.” He then disconnected the phone call.

Event sequence

Emdad was shot dead by an unknown person in Badda, Dhaka, during the July clashes on July 20, 2024. Saiful filed a case in this incident on September 9. After the investigation, Inspector Aminul Islam submitted the charge sheet to the court in the first half of October.

He said, “The charge sheet has been submitted to the court. Those against whom charges have been found have been made accused. And those against whom charges have not been proven have been recommended to be acquitted. The court will look into the matter further.”

Apart from Sheikh Hasina, former Awami League ministers Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Asaduzzaman Noor, Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Junaid Ahmed Palak have been named as accused in the charge sheet. Sheikh Hasina’s advisor Salman F Rahman and former Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Atiqul Islam are also on the list of accused.

Apart from this, former MPs Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Mohammad Wakil Uddin and Hedayat Ullah Ron, and Chhatra League President Saddam Hossain and General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Inan are also named in the list of accused.

On the other hand, former MP AKM Rahmatullah, former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, former officers of the police special branch Monirul Islam, Wasiqur Rahman Babu and Kamal Uddin Shaheen have been recommended for release.

Among the accused, Salman F. Rahman, Palak, Atiqul Islam and Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun are in prison.

The charge sheet states, “Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Saddam Hossain and some other accused who gave instructions. Although they were not present on the road just in front of AMZ Hospital in Badda, the incident took place, but on their orders, shots were fired at the protesters. Emdad was hit in the forehead and exited through the back of his head, and he died.”

Victim’s family angry over allegations against plaintiff

Emdad was the youngest of two sons and a daughter of Mosammat Hasina Begum. He drove a private car in Dhaka. He had spoken to his mother the night before his death. Hasina Begum received the news of his son’s death the next morning.

He said, “What should I do if I file a case? Will my son come back? I don’t know on whose orders he was killed. My heart is empty. How many mothers’ hearts have been empty like this? I have asked Allah for justice.”

Hasina Begum also said, “The boy spoke to me on the phone at 10 pm the day before he died. I received the news of his death at around 9:30 the next day. Only a mother who has lost a child understands how painful it is.”

Expressing anger, she said, “My son is being abused even in his death because of the person who is filing the case. Those who are being framed in the case are coming and saying, ‘We are only in trouble because of your son.’ I don’t want any mother to suffer like I did.”