A twisted murder case: Family wanted to sue 4, lawyer makes it 2000
Man, who says was in Canada at the time of the killing, is also named
Shahin Hawlader, a rickshaw puller, was shot dead in Dhaka's Jatrabari on 5 August during the student-led mass uprising and on 7 September, a case was filed with Jatrabari Police Station over the killing.
According to the victim's family, the list of accused in the case includes 87 named individuals, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Awami League leader Obaidul Quader, and around 2,000 unidentified persons.
Shahin's widow Swapna Akter, who is the complainant of the case, said they initially wanted to accuse only four individuals – Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Kamal and an SI of Jatrabari Police Station.
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She alleged a lawyer subsequently obtained her signature and added around 2000 accused to the list of accused.
For example, Hasib Alam Talukder, a businessman and local Awami League leader from Patuakhali's Bauphal upazila, who claims to have been in Canada at the time of the killing, has also been named in the case.
He is listed as the 18th accused, while his brother, Ashiqur Rahman, who lives in Bangladesh, is the 46th accused. Both are sons of Independence Award recipient Bir Uttom Shamsul Alam Talukder.
Talking to TBS over the phone, Hasib Alam said, "I left Bangladesh on 24 July and arrived in Canada on 25 July, where I am currently staying. Yet, I have been named as an accused in the case along with my younger brother Ashiq."
He called for a fair investigation into the matter.
Swapna also said, "I seek justice for my husband's murder. But I do not want innocent people to be unfairly implicated in this case due to political motivations."
Who is the lawyer?
Swapna was unable to provide a name of the lawyer, and the mobile number she shared was found to be switched off.
However, Shahin's uncle, Sadek Hawlader, identified the lawyer as advocate Zakir Hossain.
"Shahin's wife wanted to file a case against four people, but advocate Zakir Hossain added many more names. When we raised concerns, he ignored us and said that this is how genocide cases are filed," he said.
"We heard that many people from Barishal and Patuakhali have been named in the case, but we know nothing about it."
Sadek Hawlader claimed that the lawyer intentionally provided the wrong phone number for Swapna in the case documents to make it difficult to contact her.
Shahin, the eldest son of Abdul Majed from Ward No 8 of Dakshin Joynagar union in Daulatkhan upazila, Bhola, was shot dead in Jatrabari on 5 August.
Md Jamal, member of Ward No 8, said Shahin's family lives in Dhaka. "They came back to their village for his burial and then returned to Dhaka."
Shahin's mother, Zabeda Begum, said, "We don't believe we will get justice for Shahin's murder. Thousands of people have been named as accused in the case, but we heard he was killed in police firing."
Jatrabari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Faruk Ahmed said, "I prefer not to discuss such a major case over the phone. However, the investigation is progressing smoothly, and no innocent person will be harassed."
