Police have submitted a chargesheet against 45 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, over the killing of car driver Emdadul Haque in Dhaka's Badda during the July Uprising.
But Emdad's family has questioned the complainant's motives, alleging that people with no connection to the killing were named in the case.
Saiful Islam, who filed the case, identified himself as Emdad's cousin in the case documents. However, Emdad's mother, Mosammat Hasina Begum, said the family did not know him before the case was filed.
"We did not file any case. Later, we learnt someone from a neighbouring area had filed one. We did not know him. He did not contact us before filing the case. He contacted us afterwards," she said.
Hasina Begum accused Saiful of deliberately implicating people from their home area who, she said, had no involvement in the killing.
"He has implicated some people from the area in the case. They live in the village, while he filed the case in Dhaka. They were also in the area during the incident, during the movement. He deliberately implicated them. Perhaps he had some enmity with them, which is why he did this."
Emdad and Saiful were both from Dhawa village under Bhandaria Police Station in Pirojpur.
When contacted by phone for comment, Saiful said he would discuss the case in person before ending the call.
The Killing and the Accused
Emdad was shot dead in Badda on Jul 20, 2024, during the July uprising.
Saiful filed the murder case on Sept 9, naming Sheikh Hasina and 120 others, along with another 100 to 200 unidentified people.
After completing the investigation, Inspector Aminul Islam of the Anti-Terrorism Unit's Baridhara operations branch submitted the chargesheet to the court in the first half of October.
The chargesheet names 45 people, including Hasina, and recommends discharging 77 people named in the first information report.
"The chargesheet has been submitted to the court. Those against whom evidence of involvement was found have been named as accused, while discharge has been recommended for those against whom the allegations could not be substantiated. The court will decide what happens next," Aminul told bdnews24.com.
Among those named in the chargesheet are former Awami League ministers Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Asaduzzaman Noor, Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Zunaid Ahmed Palak.
Former prime minister's advisor Salman F Rahman and former Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Atiqul Islam have also been named.
The list includes former MPs Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Mohammad Wakil Uddin and Hedayet Ullah Rony, as well as banned Chhatra League president Saddam Hossain and general secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan.
Investigators have recommended discharging former MP AKM Rahmatullah, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former Special Branch chief Monirul Islam, Wasikur Rahman Babu and Kamal Uddin Shaheen.
Salman F Rahman, Palak and Atiqul Islam are among those named in the chargesheet who are currently in jail.
The chargesheet alleges that Hasina, Quader, Kamal, Saddam and several others ordered attacks on protesters.
"Although the accused who gave the instructions, including Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Saddam Hossain, were not present on the road just ahead of AMZ Hospital in Badda, where the incident took place, protesters were shot on their orders," it says.
According to the chargesheet, Emdad was shot in the forehead, with the bullet exiting through the back of his head.
'My Son Is Being Cursed Even after His Death'
Emdad was the youngest of Hasina Begum's three children — two sons and a daughter.
He worked as a car driver in Dhaka.
His mother last spoke to him by phone around 10pm on the night before his death. She said she learnt of his death around 9:30am the following morning.
Questioning the way the case had been filed, Hasina Begum said she wanted justice for her son but did not believe innocent people should be implicated.
"What would filing a case achieve? Would it bring my son back? It was the law-enforcing authorities who killed him. Did so many people kill him together? If he was killed on someone's orders, there will be justice if Hasina is found. They have left me with an empty heart. So many mothers have suffered the same loss. I have left it to Allah to deliver justice," she said.
She also described the distress caused by people who believe they have been unfairly accused in connection with her son's death.
"Only a mother who has lost a child knows how painful it is. Because of the person who filed the case, my son is being cursed even after his death. People come and tell me that they have been dragged into trouble for no reason because of my son. I want no mother to suffer as I have," she said.