Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina facing 2 new murder cases

Dhaka, Aug 31 (PTI) Two new murder cases have been filed against Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her former cabinet ministers for the killing of three people, including two BNP activists, during the quota reform protests in the country, according to media reports.

The cases, filed in Dhaka courts on Friday, were the latest in the slew of cases filed against the 76-year-old leader after her resignation and fleeing to India on August 5 following a massive protest by students against a quota system in government jobs.

With this, the tally of cases filed against Hasina has risen to 84, including 70 on murder charges, eight on allegations of crimes against humanity and genocide, three for alleged abduction, and three on other charges, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activist Matiur Rahman filed the case in Kishoreganj over the killings of fellow party workers Zulkar Hossain, 38, and Anjana, 28, on August 4.

According to the case statement, a procession of the student movement and BNP activists were attacked by Awami League leaders with firearms, batons and sharp weapons. Some BNP workers took shelter in the house of a district Awami League leader in the nearby Khormaptri area, where they were confined by activists of the Hasina-led party and then set on fire, killing Hossain and Anjana.

As many as 88 people, including Hasina, former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, were named as accused in the case.

In Munshiganj, a case was filed over the death of a 22-year-old man, who was shot dead during the student-led movement in the town's Supermarket area on August 4.

As many as 313 people, including Hasina, Quader, other Awami League leaders, and activists of its student wing, Chhatra League, were accused in the case.

"No one has been arrested in this case yet," the report quoted Thander Khairul Hasan, additional superintendent of police at Munshiganj Sadar Circle, as saying.

Separately in Gazipur, 57 people, including Hasina, were accused in a case over the loss of eyesight of an 18-year-old college student. The victim was shot in the right eye during an attack on protesters at the orders of Hasina and others, according to the court document.

Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students against a controversial quota system in government jobs first started in mid-July.

The Hasina-led government was replaced by an interim government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its Chief Adviser. PTI