Court Rejects Case Filing Against Asif Mahmud and 41 Others Over Police Killing Allegation

A Dhaka court has declined to accept a petition seeking to file a murder case against National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan and 41 others over the killing of police personnel during the July mass uprising.

The application was submitted to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka, where it was reviewed by Metropolitan Magistrate Raunak Jahan Taki. After examining the complaint and hearing arguments, the court decided not to accept the case.

The petition was filed by Jalal Hossain, the brother of former Jatrabari Police Station officer-in-charge Abul Hossain. In the complaint, Asif Mahmud was named as the principal accused, while a total of 42 individuals were listed as defendants. The charges were sought under several sections of the Penal Code related to unlawful assembly, rioting, murder, and abetment.

According to the application, the alleged incident occurred during the final phase of the July–August mass uprising in 2024, which ultimately led to the fall of the then Awami League government.

The complaint claimed that on August 5, around 5:30 pm, protesters led by Asif Mahmud attacked the Jatrabari Police Station area, setting fire to several vehicles, looting property, and vandalizing the police station.

It further alleged that police personnel were beaten and official documents were burned, and that Officer-in-Charge Abul Hossain, along with several other police members, were killed during the violence.

The application also named several other individuals as accused, including Abdul Hannan Masud, Abdul Kader, Abu Bakar Mazumdar, Rifat Rashid, Hasib Al Islam, Nusrat Tabassum, Umama Fatema, and Arif Sohel, among others.

The court, however, decided not to take the case into cognizance after reviewing the allegations and submitted documents. As a result, the petition seeking to initiate the murder case was dismissed at the preliminary stage.

The events referenced in the petition relate to the broader unrest during the 2024 uprising, during which widespread violence and casualties occurred across the country. Government figures later reported that dozens of police officers were killed during the unrest, while the movement itself resulted in large-scale casualties nationwide.

Asif Mahmud previously served as an adviser in the interim government formed after the uprising under the leadership of Professor Muhammad Yunus, representing student leaders who had played a prominent role in the movement. He later stepped down from the advisory position ahead of the national election and currently serves as the spokesperson of the National Citizen Party (NCP).