A witness told the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Tuesday that the police shot six protesters near Ashulia police station on August 5, 2024 and then burnt five of the bodies and one alive on a police vehicle later that night.
Matibar Rahman Boidda, 60, a scrap trader from Namapara Battola in Ashulia, said this while testifying as the sixth prosecution witness in a crimes against humanity case over the July 2024 uprising.
The case accuses former lawmaker for the Dhaka-19 constituency, Saiful Islam, and 15 police officers of involvement in the killings.
The three-judge tribunal, 聽chaired by former High Court judge Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, also recorded the testimony of Shafiqul Islam, a fruit trader, who appeared as the seventh prosecution witness in the case.
Shafiqul told the tribunal that, on August 5, 2024, former lawmaker Saiful Islam, along with his armed cadres and police officers, opened fire on student protesters and civilians at about 1:00pm.
He submitted that 20 to 25 people were killed and many others were injured in the attack.
He demanded exemplary punishment for Saiful, his armed associates, and the police officials, including the officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station, for their involvement in the atrocities.
The tribunal adjourned the hearing until Wednesday morning.
鈥楢fter 2:00pm, when the government had already resigned, children brought out a procession,鈥� Matibar said.
鈥楢s they passed by Ashulia police station, police opened fire and kept shooting until 4:00pm,鈥� he said.
According to his testimony, the police left the place at about 4:30pm, shooting indiscriminately.
鈥榃e stayed there until evening, then went home,鈥� he added.
鈥楲ater that night, the bodies were burnt and someone left them near Baipile Mosque,鈥� he submitted.
Matibar said that students from Jahangirnagar University arrived at the mosque after 12:00am on August 6, followed by a military team at about 2:00am on August 6.
鈥業 helped unload six bodies from the vehicle, packed them in polybags, and performed their funeral prayers. Four of the victims had mobile phones, and their families were contacted to collect the bodies,鈥� he said.
鈥楾wo bodies couldn鈥檛 be identified and were buried at Amtola,鈥� he submitted.
He also recalled that a day later, a woman named Abul鈥檚 wife asked him if he had buried someone wearing a yellow shirt and a lungi. 鈥業 said, 鈥測es鈥�,鈥� Matibar told the tribunal.
