Student movement against State Discrimination
Video footage shows police shooting at Begum Rokeya University student Abu Sayed, who posed no physical threat to the law enforcers, during the quota reform protest near the campus on July 16. He died soon afterwards.
But contradicting what is evident, the First Information Report (FIR) filed by police says Sayed was not a victim of police firing.
“The protesters fired weapons and threw chunks of bricks from different directions, and at one stage, a student was seen falling to the ground,” reads the report, adding that classmates took Sayed, 23, to Rangpur Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
Sub-inspector Bibhuti Bhushan Roy, in-charge of the campus police camp, wrote the report.
In the FIR filed with Tajhat police station on July 16, the SI accused 2,000-3,000 unidentified people, including BNP and Jamaat-Shibir activists, of the killing.
When SI Bibhuti was contacted and asked about the footage, he said, “I have just filed the case. The officer carrying out the investigation will verify it.”
In two video clips, verified by the Amnesty International, at least two police officers fired 12-gauge shotguns directly at him from across the street. Sayed clutched his chest on impact, and the officers fired at least two more times.
Amnesty International used satellite images to geolocate the positions of Sayed and the police officers and found that they were at a distance of about 15 metres during the shooting. Also, Sayed posed no apparent physical threat to the police, Amnesty International said in a statement on July 18, adding that the police’s attack on Sayed was reckless and unprovoked.
Sayed’s death certificate said he was “brought dead” to the hospital.
Tuhin Wadud, a teacher of the university who saw Sayed’s body at the hospital, said there were shotgun pellet wounds all over the body.
Razibul Islam, head of the forensic medicine department at Rangpur Medical College Hospital, said he died of internal hemorrhage caused by the pellets.
He said an autopsy report will be prepared soon but declined to give details.
Asked about the FIR, Deputy Commissioner (Crime) of Rangpur Metropolitan Police Abu Maruf Hossain said many non-students, including Jamaat-Shibir and BNP men, reportedly used firearms during the protests. The matter will be clear once the investigation concludes.
WHAT IS IN THE FOOTAGE?
Sayed had his arms wide open with a stick in his right hand. He appears to dodge a brick chip. Gunshots were heard. A man, possibly the one filming, shouted, “He got shot.”
Sayed again stretched his arms, and a second later, he took a few steps back and sat on the ground.
A man rushed to him and helped him stand up. There were blood stains on his neck, nose and other parts of the body.
Three more protesters then joined and carried him away.
Sayed’s killing sparked widespread outrage, with many questioning the justification of police’s use of lethal weapons on unarmed protesters.
In the following days, at least 156 people were killed and several thousand wounded in deadly clashes across the country.
The government enforced curfew to tackle the situation, and on July 23 issued a circular, taking merit-based recruitment in civil service to 93 percent from 44 percent. The remaining seven percent will be reserved.
Talking to this newspaper yesterday, rights activist Nur Khan Liton said police’s account in the FIR was unacceptable because the shooting took place in broad daylight and it was a cold-blooded killing.
He said police should warn first and then can only shoot aiming at the legs when they have no other option to protect lives, properties and firearms. “The problem is the government party men who get jobs in the police force do not care about the rule of law,” he told The Daily Star.
WHO SHOT HIM?
A source in the police said an officer named Yunus Ali fired a weapon at Sayed during a protest on July 16 without authorisation from higher officials. No details could be known.
DC Maruf said that no action has yet been taken against any policeman involved in the shooting.
He only mentioned that police used shotguns, adding that expert opinions would be sought, and actions would follow if rules were violated.
Meanwhile, a four-member committee, led by Additional Commissioner Saifuzzaman Faruki of Rangpur Metropolitan Police, has been formed to investigate the incident. The committee was asked to file its report in two weeks.
Sayed, the youngest of nine siblings, was a student of English. His grieving father and brother said he dreamt of joining the civil service and changing his family’s fate.
A day before his death, he wrote on Facebook that he was ready to sacrifice his life for the cause.
His brother Ramzan said he tried to collect the autopsy report from the hospital on Thursday but was asked to obtain it from the court. The family has not filed any case.
[Shariful Islam, Mohiuddin Alamgir and Kongkon Karmaker made this report.]
Source: the daily star.
