Former Ashulia police sub-inspector Sheikh Afzalul Haque on Thursday admitted that he committed crimes against humanity in Ashulia during the July 2024 uprising.
Afzal was among the 16 individuals accused of killing six protesters and then burning their bodies in Ashulia on August 5, 2024.
The prosecution said that overall 29 people were killed during the protests in Ashulia.
Afzal has now turned into a state witness after expressing his desire to reveal the facts sorrounding the killings.
Afzal pleaded guilty before the International Crimes Tribunal-2, led by Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and comprising judges Manjurul Bashid and Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir as members.
Sheikh Afzal, a field-level officer, is the second police member to have admitted his involvement in the July 2024 uprising killings.
Earlier, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun pleaded guilty of his聽 command responsibility for the police shooting on protesters.
The shooting was allegedly carried out on the orders of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mamun is being tried by ICT-1, along with Hasina and then home minister Asaduzzaman Khan 鈥� both of whom are fugitives and currently believed to be in India.
Mamun turned state witness on the condition that he would assist the tribunal by providing evidence against Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan.
After the charges were read out against Afzal, the tribunal-2 asked whether he would plead guilty and he responded affirmatively.
Following his admission, the tribunal separated Afzal from the other accused, summoned him before the bench, and ordered that he be held in a secure separate cell.
The tribunal set September 14 for the prosecution to deliver its opening statement, officially beginning the trial.
Charges have been framed against 15 other accused in the case. Of them, eight appeared in court when the charges were read out.
The detained persons include dismissed additional superintendent of police聽 Abdullah Al Kafi, former additional SP Md Shahidul Islam, Detective Branch inspector Md Arafat Hossain Arju, sub-inspectors Arafat Uddin and Abdul Malek, ASI Kamrul Hasan, and former constable Mukul Chowkder.
The seven absconding accused include former independent MP for Dhaka-12 Saiful Islam, former Deputy Inspector General of police Nurul Islam, former SP Asaduzzaman Ripon, former additional SP Saidul Islam and former Ashulia OC AFM Sayeed Roni.
Earlier, the ICT-2 concluded hearings on whether charges should be framed against the 16 and set August 21 to announce its decision.
According to the formal complaint, police opened fire on demonstrators, killing five and injuring another. The victims鈥� bodies were allegedly loaded into a police van, doused with petrol, and burned.
The chief prosecutor鈥檚 office received multiple complaints regarding the incident. The investigation agency launched its probe on October 6, 2024. Formal charges were submitted by chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam on July 3, 2025.
Chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam, his deputies Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim and Faruk Hossain represented the state while separate lawyers defended the seven out of the eight detained accused police personnel and the eight fugitive accused were defended by state-appointed lawyer Amir Hossain.
