ICT indicts Abul Hasnat Abdullah, 3 others over extrajudicial killings

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT) on Wednesday formally indicted former lawmaker Abul Hasnat Abdullah and three former police officials in a case over the alleged extrajudicial killings of two opposition activists in Barishal in 2015.

The tribunal set June 17 for the prosecution’s opening statement and the start of witness testimony.

Besides Abdullah, the accused are former superintendent of police AKM Ehsanullah and former assistant sub inspectors Md Mahabul Islam and Md Jasim Uddin. Of the four, Mahabul and Jasim have been arrested and are currently in custody.

The case centers on the deaths of Tipu Hawlader, then joint general secretary of the Agailjhara upazila unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, and Kabir Molla, organising secretary of JASAS in the same upazila.

According to the prosecution, Abdullah allegedly orchestrated a plan to eliminate the two activists after failing to counter them politically. Prosecutors claim he conspired with Ehsanullah and directed subordinate police personnel to carry out the killings.

The two men were allegedly shot dead on the night of February 21, 2015, on the western side of a large bridge along the Agailjhara Bypass Road on the Gouranadi Gopalganj highway.

The tribunal’s decision to frame charges means it has found sufficient grounds to proceed to trial. The case will now move into the evidentiary phase, with prosecutors expected to present witness accounts and other materials in support of the charges.