Curious case against ZI Panna: Made murder accused by ‘mistake’?
Ain O Salish Kendra Chairman ZI Khan Panna's inclusion in an attempted case piqued interest, curiosity and even concerns
Mohammad Baker, a vegetable seller in Dhaka's Banasree, went to the Khilgaon police station on 17 October and filed a murder case over the shooting of his son, Ahadul Islam.
The case statement said Ahad, 25, was shot on 19 July.
One of the accused in the case was Ain O Salish Kendra Chairman ZI Khan Panna, a prominent rights activist, and member of a citizen's commission formed to investigate human rights violations and loss of lives during the student-led protests.
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He was also among the Supreme Court lawyers who stood for a writ petitioner at the High Court on 29 July seeking orders to stop the use of bullets on protesters.
His inclusion in the case piqued interest, curiosity and concerns – in a statement yesterday, the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) demanded that Panna's name be withdrawn from the case immediately and an inquiry be launched on why he was named in the case.
Panna, himself, weighed in on the development. "I object to being listed as number 94 out of 180 accused. If they were filing a case, I should have been the number one accused. This is clearly influenced by certain individuals."
By this morning, however, Panna's name was withdrawn from the case.
It turns out it was all a mistake, and in the meantime, a court granted him anticipatory bail.
Muddled plot
This morning, plaintiff Md Baker, 52, arrived at the Khilgaon police station.
In his hand was an application requesting that the name of the noted Supreme Court lawyer be removed from the case statement, Daud Hossain, officer-in-charge of the Khilgaon police station said.
In the petition, Md Baker mentioned that ZI Khan Panna's name was included "by mistake" in the list of accused.
He requested the authorities to exclude Panna from the case and to continue investigating the matter.
Police said they had not had prior contact with Baker before he arrived yesterday.
Speaking to the media, Baker made the waters even muddier.
"I work as a labourer. Frequent phone calls are disrupting my work. My employer will fire me if this continues. I filed the case through BNP-Jamaat lawyers; you can assume what you want," he said.
'Won't stop talking about injustices'
Speaking to reporters at the High Court premises, Panna said the case hadn't been for political reasons, but it was rather for personal interests.
"As far as I can guess, some people from my Muladi upazila of Barishal are involved in filing the case. I have also heard the name of a lawyer who was involved in this," he said.
"Even with this case, I cannot be stopped from speaking out against injustice."
