A decade after the murders of bloggers Oyasiqur Rahman Babu, Nazimuddin Samad and Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy, the trials remain stalled as prosecution witnesses continue to skip court hearings, preventing proceedings from moving forward.
Case documents say members of the banned militant outfit Ansar al Islam, also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), carried out the killings in Dhaka between March 30, 2015, and April 6, 2016.
Oyasiqur, known for his secular views and writings against fundamentalism, was hacked to death in broad daylight in the Tejgaon Industrial Area on March 30, 2015.
Later that year, on August 7, Niloy was killed inside his rented flat in the Goran area of Khilgaon.
On April 6, 2016, Jagannath University law student Nazimuddin, who had been critical of extremism in his Facebook posts, was hacked and shot dead in the Sutrapur area of Old Dhaka.
According to the prosecution, the court has been summoning witnesses month after month to record testimonies, but many have failed to appear, causing prolonged delays and leaving the cases unresolved.
OYASIQUR CASE
On the day of the attack, Monir Hossain Masud, Oyasiqur’s cousin and brother-in-law, filed a murder case with Tejgaon Industrial Police Station against four named individuals and several unnamed suspects.
On September 2, 2015, Shah Md Mashiur Rahman, an inspector of the Detective Branch of police, submitted a charge sheet accusing five ABT members -- Zikrullah, Ariful Islam, Saiful Islam, Akram Hossain and Junaid Ahmed.
On July 20, 2016, the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court-3 of Dhaka framed charges against them.
Court records show that 24 out of 40 listed witnesses testified before the case was transferred to the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court-12 of Dhaka on December 1, 2022.
Since then, no witnesses -- including the complainant Masud -- have testified as of February 17 this year, according to a court staffer.
Over the past nine and a half years, the court summoned Masud 94 times and even issued an arrest order to secure his testimony, but the prosecution and police failed to produce him, documents show.
After the July uprising, Zikrullah, Ariful and Saiful were released on bail between December 5, 2024, and January 12, 2025. The other two accused -- Akram and Junaid -- have been absconding since the case was filed.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Farid Uddin Sarker declined to comment without reviewing the case records on March 3.
NAZIMUDDIN CASE
A day after Nazimuddin’s murder, Sub-Inspector Nurul Islam filed a case with Sutrapur Police Station against unidentified assailants under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
On August 20, 2020, the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police submitted a charge sheet accusing nine Ansar al Islam members -- Syed Ziaul Haque alias Major (sacked) Zia, Mozammel Hossain Saimon, Arafat Rahman Siam, Sheikh Abdullah, Rashed-Un-Nabi Bhuiyan, Akram Hossain, Junaid Ahmed, Asadullah alias Foyjul and Sabbirul Haque Chowdhury.
On June 24, 2024, the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal of Dhaka framed charges against Ziaul, Akram, Abdullah and Rashed-Un-Nabi, while discharging the remaining five accused.
Only one witness testified in the case in 2024 after charges were framed, the prosecution said.
Mohammad Anisur Rahman, additional public prosecutor of the tribunal, said on March 4 that the trial has seen little progress due to the non-appearance of witnesses.
“We are trying our best to produce the witnesses for testimony. But they are not coming to the tribunal on scheduled dates,” he said.
Ziaul and Akram have been absconding since the case was filed, while Abdullah and Rashed-Un-Nabi are currently in jail.
NILOY CASE
On the day of the killing, Niloy’s wife, Asha Moni, filed a case with Khilgaon Police Station against four unidentified individuals.
After a five-year investigation, CTTC Inspector Shah Md Akhtaruzzaman Ilias submitted charges on October 4, 2020 against 13 ABT members -- Ziaul, Mozammel, Arafat, Abdullah, Khairul Islam, Abu Siddiq Sohel, Masud Rana, Saad Al Nahiyan, Tarikul Islam, Kamal Hossain Sardar, Kawsar Hossain Khan, Mortuja Faisal Sabbir and Mufti Abdul Gaffar.
On January 18, 2022, the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court-1 of Dhaka framed charges against them.
Among the accused, Khairul, Abdullah, Mozammel and Arafat are in jail, while Masud Rana, Saad, Tarikul, Kamal, Kawsar Hossain Khan, Mortuja and Abdul Gaffar are on bail.
Court documents show that Asha Moni testified on August 22, 2022, and police officer Anowar Hossain Khan testified on July 30 last year.
“After charge framing, 27 hearings were held from April 6, 2022 to February 17 this year. During that time, only five of the 15 listed witnesses testified,” said bench assistant ASM Shahadat Ali.
