The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has formally charged 10 people, including two former inspectors general of police (IGPs), over the alleged extrajudicial killing of seven individuals in Gazipur in 2016 after staging them as militants, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The prosecution submitted the formal charges on February 2, accusing the defendants of crimes against humanity linked to what it described as a “staged militant operation” in the Patartek area of Gazipur. Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim confirmed the development.
Those charged include former IGPs AKM Shahidul Haque and Mohammad Javed Patwary, former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia, former additional IGP Monirul Islam, and former DMP Detective Branch chief Harun-or-Rashid, among others.
According to the prosecution, the accused were involved in orchestrating a fake counterterrorism operation in 2016, during which seven people were killed after being falsely portrayed as militants. The case has been filed under charges of crimes against humanity.
Tamim said the charges stem from allegations that the victims were subjected to enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing. One of the seven victims was identified as Ibrahim, a student at a madrasa in Jatrabari, Dhaka.
Following a change in the country’s political landscape, Ibrahim’s father lodged a complaint with the tribunal’s investigation agency, alleging that his son had been abducted, forcibly disappeared, and later killed in a staged encounter.
The prosecution maintains that the incident was part of a broader pattern of alleged abuse of power and unlawful killings during that period. The tribunal is expected to review the formal charges and decide on the next course of legal proceedings.
