30 individuals involved in Abu Sayed murder

The investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal has found involvement of 30 individuals in the murder of Abu Sayed, prosecutor Mizanul Islam told a press briefing yesterday.

The Begum Rokeya University student was shot dead during the mass uprising in Rangpur on July 16 last year.

Mizanul said the prosecution had received the investigation report along with some documents and was making preparations to press charges at tribunal-2 on Sunday.

The report identified the involvement of 30 individuals, and through review, the number of accused may be increased or decreased, he added.

ICT investigators say they submitted the probe report to the prosecution on June 24. The investigation took four months.

The investigators told The Daily Star that the involvement of high-ranking officials, including the then Rangpur Metropolitan Police commissioner Moniruzzaman and former RMP deputy commissioner (crime) Abu Maruf Hossain, was found.

The other accused include the then vice-chancellor of the university Prof Hasibur Rashid, former proctor Shariful Islam, former assistant sub-inspector of police Amir Hossain, former constable Sujan Chandra Roy, and Chhatra League leader Imran Chowdhury Akash.

They are accused of crimes against humanity. Of the 30 accused, only Shariful, Amir Hossain, Sujan and Imran have been arrested.

Some of the accused remain at large, while warrants have yet been issued for several newly identified accused, said a prosecutor.

The complaint was filed by Sayed's elder brother Ramzan Ali with the ICT's prosecution wing. He accused former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 23 others over his brother's death.

Soon after Sayed was killed in police firing seen on TV, Sub-inspector Bibhuti Bhushan Roy, then in-charge of the campus police camp, filed a First Information Report which said Sayed was not a victim of police firing.

"The protesters fired weapons and threw chunks of bricks from different directions, and at one stage, a student was seen falling to the ground," read the report.

It added that Sayed's classmates took him to Rangpur Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

The SI accused 2,000-3,000 unidentified people, including BNP and Jamaat activists, in the case.

An assistant professor of forensic medicine at the Rangpur Medical College, Rajibul Islam, stated in his autopsy report that Sayed had died from shotgun pellet wounds. The doctor later said he was forced to change his findings several times.

He said he had to mention head injuries, other wounds, and blood clots. He concluded that the cause of death was shock and haemorrhage resulting from injuries.

Sayed's defiance inflamed students across the country and galvanised the widespread protests, as people began to join in ever larger numbers.