Hefajat wants trial of May 5 deaths

Hefajat-e-Islam today voiced for trial of "those who killed their men" during the Shapla Chattar rally in Motijheel four years ago – a day remembered as when the Islamists wreaked havoc in Dhaka city.

"We can't forget those who sacrificed their lives to save Islam," said Nur Hossain Kasemi, convener of Hefajat's Dhaka city unit at a Doa Mahfil held in memoir of May 5, 2013.

READ MORE: Noise not needed

"Their deaths won't go in vain. We will continue movement until our demands are implemented. Trials of the killings will be held someday Inshallah," he said at the programme.

The programme was held in Jamia Madania Madrasa in Baridhara.

In total, 53 cases were filed over the rampage on that day. But apart from a few, investigation of most of the cases has not seen any headway over the years.

On that day, the Hefajat men locked in deadly clashes with law enforcers and the ruling Awami League men and turned the capital city into a battlefield. They set fire to hundreds of shops, vehicles and police outposts and looted shops, including those having Islamic books.

Although Hefajat claimed that 2,000 of its leaders and activists were killed in the incident, the government's death figure stood at only 13, including three policemen. Hefajat could not provide names and addresses in support of its claim.