A Dhaka court today framed charges against 33 people, including nine members of the ruling Awami League and its associate bodies, in a case filed over the killings of party leader Jahidul Islam Tipu and college student Samia Afran Jamal Prity in March 2022.
Twenty-six people, who were present at the court today, pleaded not guilty after Judge Muhammad Ali Hussain of Dhaka Special Judge Court-3 read out the charges to them.
Dhaka City (South) AL Organising Secretary Golam Ashraf Talukder; its member Maruf Ahmed Mansoor, also the ward-10 councillor of Dhaka South City Corporation; former general secretary of Motijheel thana Chhatra League Khairul Islam; and Motijheel thana Jatiya Party leader Juber Alam Khan Robin are among the 33 accused.
Two other accused are Suman Sikder Musa, a businessman named as the main coordinator of the murder in the charge sheet, and Shamim Hossain, who Suman contacted to carry out the murder.
Seven people, including two top-listed criminals Zeesan Ahmed alias Montu and Jafar Ahmed Manik alias Freedom Manik, were indicted in their absence as they have gone into hiding.
Before framing the charges, the judge dismissed the petitions submitted for discharging 26 people from the charges of the case.
The judge fixed May 21 for starting trial of the case.
On June 5 last year, Md Yasin Sikder, a DB inspector and also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.
On March 24 of 2022, Tipu, 55, former general secretary of Motijheel AL, was returning home in his microbus from his restaurant in Motijheel AGB Colony area. The vehicle was at a traffic light in Shahjahanpur when attackers arrived at the scene on a motorcycle and opened fire.
College student Prity, 22, who happened to be in a rickshaw next to the vehicle, also got shot. The two were declared dead after being taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
According to the charge sheet, Suman, who was flown back from Oman by DB several months after the killing, was the main coordinator of the double murder. He contacted Shamim. Later, Shamim picked his longtime friend Masum Mohammad Akash for the mission and assured him of accompanying him during the gun attack.
Musa, an accused in the Bocha Babu murder case, became annoyed with Tipu as he was assisting Babu's father for quick disposal of the case, the charge sheet added.
