Bangladesh batter Mominul Haque claimed that his teammate Shakib Al Hasan had been falsely accused of murder, underlining that such a case was filed to harass the star all-rounder.

A murder case was filed against former Awami League lawmaker Shakib with the Adabor Police Station in Dhaka on Thursday over the death of a garment worker during the mass protests on August 5.

"Shakib Al Hasan has been representing Bangladesh cricket for 18 years. He has led the team to so many victories. That same person is now being falsely accused of murder," Mominul wrote in a Facebook post after Bangladesh won the first of the two-match Test series against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Shakib played a key role with the ball to help the Tigers romp to a memorable victory. 

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Murder case filed against Shakib

"Shakib was playing in Canada when the incident happened. He wasn't even in the country for a long time. A case such as this is unexpected. Such events can damage the reputation of the country's cricket.

"It is not expected that the new Bangladesh that emerged at the cost of the blood of students would harass someone on the basis of questionable charges. We want everyone to get justice here."

Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a few top former ministers and lawmakers were among 147 accused named in the case, with Shakib noted as No. 28 accused in the FIR.

Rafiqul Islam, the father of the deceased MD Rubel, filed the case also accusing at least 400 unidentified AL leaders and activists.