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A Dhaka court will hold an indictment hearing on Thursday over the chargesheet submitted by the Detective Branch police in the murder case of Inquilab Moncho Convener Sharif Osman Bin Hadi.
The hearing will be held in the court of Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam, says Sub-Inspector Rukunuzzaman of the Prosecution Department.
The indictment hearing was initially set for Monday. Abdullah Al Jaber, member secretary of Inquilab Moncho and the complainant in the case, appeared before the court that day and requested time to review the chargesheet. The court accepted the plea and set the next hearing for Thursday, bdnews24.com reports.
Hadi, who rose to prominence through the July Uprising and the movement to ban the Awami League, announced that he would contest the 13th parliamentary election as an independent candidate from the Dhaka-8 constituency.
He was shot at close range on December 12 while travelling by rickshaw in Dhaka's Bijoynagar. Police said two assailants arrived on a motorcycle, opened fire and fled the scene.
He was initially taken in critical condition to Dhaka Medical College Hospital before being transferred to Evercare Hospital, where he was treated in intensive care.
On December 15, Hadi was flown to Singapore by air ambulance for advanced medical treatment. He later died there.
Following the shooting, Abdullah Al Jaber filed a case for attempted murder on December 14. After Hadi’s death, Section 302 of the Penal Code was added to the case. The investigation was later handed over to the Detective Branch (DB) of police.
On January 6, the DB submitted a charge sheet in the Hadi murder case, naming 17 accused, including former ward councillor Taizul Islam Chowdhury Bappi and Faisal Karim Masud.
Those named in the charge sheet are: Faisal Karim Masud alias Rahul alias Daud, 37; his father Md Humayun Kabir, 70; mother Hasi Begum, 60; wife Saheda Parvin Samia, 24; brother-in-law Wahid Ahmed Shipu, 27; friend Maria Akter Lima, 21; Md Kabir, 33; Md Nuruzzaman Nomani alias Ujjal, 34; Sibion Diu, 32, accused of assisting an escape to India; Sanjay Chisim, 23; Md Aminul Islam alias Raju, 37; and Md Faisal, 25, arrested in connection with the recovery of the weapon and bullets used in the killing.
Md Alamgir Hossain alias Alamgir Sheikh, 26; former ward councillor Md Taizul Islam Chowdhury Bappi; Philip Snal 32, accused of helping suspects flee to India; Mukti Mahmud, 51; and Jasmine Akter, 42. Among them, Faisal Karim and the last five named remain at large.
In the charge sheet, DB Inspector Faisal Ahmed said that analysis of the accused persons’ political identities and Hadi’s political statements over time indicates that he was shot dead “for political vengeance”.
The charge sheet also alleges that Faisal Karim Masud and his associates infiltrated Hadi’s election campaign in a premeditated manner to “disrupt” the upcoming 13th general election and to “create fear among voters”.