Video of cops loading bodies: Horrific accounts surface as date, place identified

The video circulating on social media showing police loading bodies of gunshot victims onto a rickshaw van and covering them with a discarded banner and a bedsheet was taken near Ashulia Police Station in Dhaka on 5 August, shortly after Sheikh Hasina's departure.

Police sources confirmed the date and location of the video after analysing Google geolocation data, and nearby images. 

Qadaruddin Shishir, head of fact-checking at AFP's Bangladesh bureau, said a more precise location is near the Baipail Kendriya Jame Masjid, down an alley before the police station building. 

The video shows two police officers stacking bodies. Local police and residents identified one officer as an inspector from Dhaka North Detective Branch (DB) police. 

They also said the other officers, in plainclothes, wearing police helmets and bulletproof vests, are mostly from the same police branch.

The Business Standard's Savar correspondent visited the area on the day of the incident but could not take photos due to the volatile situation. A day later, the correspondent said he saw two burned bodies in a police pickup van in front of Ashulia Police Station.

It could not be confirmed how these bodies were burned and they ended up in the pickup van. The identities of the victims also remain unknown. 

Dhaka District Superintendent of Police (SP) Ahmad Muyeed said, "We have already seen the video. Our expert team is working on it. Additionally, some individuals at the scene, as seen in the video, have been identified, and they are providing us with information. We are also working to verify these details."

What happened that day

Eyewitnesses said that after Hasina's fall on 5 August, a victory procession in the Baipail area led to a large crowd surrounding the Ashulia Police Station. 

Officers, panicked, rushed into the station and locked the gates around 4:30pm. Within five minutes, more protesters surrounded the station, throwing bricks and attempting to break down the gate.

Amid escalating tensions, Officer-in-Charge AFM Sayeed Ahmed tried to calm the protesters, who were demanding police surrender, said eyewitnesses. "We have lost. You have won. Please go home," the OC pleaded.  

The police, however, opened fire, hitting several people in the alley, and the crowd then dispersed, according to locals.  

Roni Ahmed, an eyewitness from a nearby building, said that in the afternoon, police fired on a crowd at the police station gate, hitting 10 to 12 people who fell nearby. 

The shooting continued for several minutes. Survivors were dragged away by students, but 6 to 7 people remained at the scene. Locals then surrounded the area and moved towards the station, added Roni. 

The bodies of seven gunshot victims were scattered by the wall of the Polymer and Plastics Limited officers' family quarters, adjacent to the police station, said Fahima Akhtar, another eyewitness.

Hiding in a tea stall at the quarters, Fahima said, she saw police loading the bodies onto a van. The bodies were initially covered with a banner and a bedsheet. 

Roki Ahmed, a garment worker, also witnessed police loading seven gunshot victims onto a rickshaw van, then transporting them to the station's parking area. 

"The bodies were then burned, and police then walked out of the station, continuing shooting," Roki said as he claimed he was on the other side of the road in front of the police station.  

"One victim, still handcuffed, was seen in the flames."

While TBS could not verify any of the claims, Rezwanul Islam, a local resident, said one of the burned bodies was his brother Asshabur, a 10th-grade student from Shaheen School in Jamgora, Ashulia.

Asshabur was shot and lying on the road next to the station, according to Rezwanul. "The police later moved his lifeless body from the street and set it on fire." 

Rezwanul said they identified Asshabur by his blue jersey, which was visible among the burned bodies.