Court accepts charges against 18 accused

A Dhaka court yesterday accepted charges against 18 accused in a case filed over the murder of Riazul Haque Khan Milky, organising secretary of Dhaka city (south) Jubo League.

Accepting the charges, the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur also issued arrest warrants against six accused who are on the run, said court sources.

The six are Fahima Islam Lopa, Shakhawat Hossain Chanchal, Md Arif Hossain, Md Ibrahim Khalilullah, Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury, Sharifuddin Chowdhury alias Pappu.

Sources said the court also directed the officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station to submit a report on execution of the warrant before the court on April 25.

Twelve of the 18 charge-sheeted accused are now on bail, according to the sources. 

Rapid Action Battalion on April 15, 2014 pressed charges against 11 people, mostly Jubo League men, in the murder case filed with the police.

Milky's brother and complainant of the case Rashedul Haque Khan, however, rejected the charge-sheet and filed a no confidence petition with a Dhaka court, saying that the elite force has dropped the names of some key accused.

Later, the case was investigated by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) which pressed a supplementary charge-sheet on September 23 last year, mentioning seven additional names along with the 11 accused pressed by Rab. 

Milky was gunned down in front of a shopping mall in the capital's Gulshan on the night of July 30, 2013. In the CCTV camera footage of the shopping mall, prime accused SM Zahid Siddique Tarek was seen shooting at Milky.

Tarek, who was joint secretary of Dhaka city (south) Jubo League, was killed in a shootout with Rab within 18 hours of his arrest following the incident.

Rashedul filed the case the same night against 11 named and four to five unnamed people.