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A Dhaka court has indicted Dhaka South Awami League Organising Secretary Ashraf Talukder and 32 others over the murders of Awami League leader Jahidul Islam Tipu and college student Samia Afrin Prity, clearing the way for the trial.
Judge Ali Hossain of the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-3 indicted the suspects on Monday and scheduled the first hearing for May 21, according to bdnews24.com.
The suspects pleaded not guilty and sought justice, said Public Prosecutor Rafique Uddin Bacchu.
Jahidul Islam Tipu, 54, a former leader of the Awami League's Motijheel unit, was shot dead in the street in Shahjahanpur on Mar 24, 2022. Samia, a 22-year-old bystander, died when she was hit by a stray bullet. Tipu's driver Munna was also shot.
Tipu’s wife Farzana Islam Dolly, a local councillor of the city corporation, subsequently filed a case against unidentified suspects with the Shahjahanpur Police Station the next day.
She alleged that Tipu had received a death threat over the phone a few days before he was killed.
Later, police detectives arrested Masum Mohammad Akash as a suspect in the case, describing him as a "contract killer" who had been hired to kill Tipu.
Meanwhile, several Awami League leaders were implicated in a confessional statement given by Musa.
Police charged 33 people over the shooting deaths of Tipu and Prity on Jun 5, 2023.
The charges were filed in court after a lengthy investigation. The list of suspects also included local Awami League, Chhatra League and Jubo League leaders, according to Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch.
The DB investigation found the involvement of 34 people in the incident. One of the suspects, known as XL Sohail, was not named in the chargesheet as his identity could not be confirmed.
As many as 26 suspects were arrested at different times. Currently, 20 of them are in jail. At least eight of them are out on bail while six - Jisan Ahmed Montu, Md Manik, Md Rifat, Md Sohel, Md Aminul, and Md Kamruzzaman - are absconding.
Musa, Akash and Nasiruddin have given confessional statements in the case.