Plaintiff requests Khilgaon OC to drop ZI Khan Panna's name from attempted murder case

Plaintiff Mohammad Baker today asked the office-in-charge (OC) of Khilgaon Police Station to drop the name of eminent supreme court lawyer ZI Khan Panna from an attempted murder case filed in connection with a shooting during the mass protests on July 19.

Daud Hossain, OC of Khilgaon Police Station, told The Daily Star that the plaintiff came to the police station this morning and applied to withdraw the name of the 94th accused in the case, saying he has been wrongly accused.

The case was filed on October 17 accusing 180 individuals, including ZI Khan Panna, who publicly backed student protesters throughout the unrest in July and August. Panna was among the Supreme Court lawyers who stood for a writ petitioner at the High Court on July 29, seeking orders to stop the use of bullets on the protesters.

In the application sent to the Khilgaon Police Station OC today, plaintiff Mohammad Baker said that ZI Khan Panna, the 94th accused, was named in the case "due to ignorance and by mistake". The plaintiff thus requested the OC to exclude the 94th accused during filing the investigation report.

According to the original case statement, Ahadul, son of Mohammad Baker, and others were protesting near Meradia Bazar on July 19 afternoon when "many of the named accused along with other unnamed BGB, police personnel and Awami League leaders and activists opened fire at the behest of some other accused".

Ahadul suffered bullet wounds in the left leg and was beaten up as he fell on the ground, according to the case dossier. He later took treatment at multiple hospitals, Baker said in the FIR.

Notably, 52-year-old Mohammad Baker sells vegetables on a rickshaw van in Banasree area. Baker said he did not know Panna and how his name ended up in the list of accused.

"A lawyer named Jashim and some other people made the list and I just signed the First Information Report [FIR]," Baker told The Daily Star over the phone yesterday.

Baker added he had no details of lawyer Jashim. Several attempts by this newspaper to reach the lawyer failed.