Ex-IGP Benazir charged in case filed for crossfire murder in 2016

A court in Joypurhat has ordered legal action against nine persons in connection with the murder of Shafinur Islam Shafin in a ‘crossfire’ incident while he was in RAB custody in 2016, which the family now claims was a fake encounter which resulted in the extrajudicial killing of Shafin.

The suspects include the then Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) director general Benazir Ahmed, who retired as IGP, and the then police commissioner Molla Nazrul Islam.

The directive is part of a case filed eight years after the incident seeking justice for the death.

The case was filed on Sunday by Nazrul Islam, father of the deceased, of Chokmohan village in Sadar upazila of Joypurhat.

This concerns a total of 25 suspects, with the court initially focusing on the first nine mentioned in the complaint. Senior District and Sessions Judge Mojibur Rahman directed that legal action be taken against the nine and ordered the Superintendent of Police to report within 24 hours.

Besides Benazir and Nazrul, the others against whom the court has ordered action include Major Hasan Arafat of Joypurhat RAB camp, Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Md Firoz Ali Khan, Sub-Inspector (SI) Enamul Haque, DAD Mahfuzar Rahman , SI Debashish Nandi of Sadar Police Station, RAB Naik Habibur Rahman and Constable Mehedi Hasan. All messages mentioned date from the time of the incident.

According to details of the case, the incident started on September 26, 2016, when members of Joypurhat RAB camp arrested Shafinur from Uttara area of ​​Dhaka around 9 p.m.

About a month later, on the night of October 25 at around 9:30 pm, Shafin was reportedly shot and killed at an abandoned paddy field owned by Helal in Dadaura Nandigram, Joypurhat Sadar upazila.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Adv Mahfuzur Rahman Helal, informed the press that the court had admitted the charges against the first nine suspects and ordered the Joypurhat SP to take legal action accordingly. The court directed the SP to inform the SP about the steps taken within 24 hours.

Speaking over phone, SP Muhammad Abdul Wahab confirmed that “legal action is being taken as per the court’s directive.”