The High Court on Sunday directed the authorities to trace seven Rapid Action Battalion-8 officials involved in the shooting of Md Lemon Hossen in Jhalakati in 2011 and submit their addresses to the court in 30 days.
Those who were directed to trace the RAB officials include the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the inspector general of police, the director general of RAB, the commander of RAB-8, the superintendent of police of Jhalakati, the deputy commissioner of Jhalakati, and the officer-in-charge of Rajapur police station.
The seven officials involved are former RAB-8 deputy assistant director Lutfor Rahman, then camp commander Major Rashed, corporal Md Majharul Islam, constable Md A Aziz, nayek Muktadir Hossain, army personnel Sri Prahlad Chandra, and Sri Kartik Kumar Biswas, according to Limon’s writ petition.
All of them were posted in RAB-8 at the time of the incident.
The High Court directed the home secretary, the inspector general of police, and the RAB director general to submit their current whereabouts to the court within 30 days.
The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain within four weeks why the shooting should not be declared unlawful and unconstitutional.
It further asked why Lemon should not be compensated Tk 2,60,09,200 for the harm caused by the shooting, false criminal cases, and unlawful detention.
The bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Fatema Anwar passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Lemon, now 30 and a lecturer at Gono Bishwabidyalay.
The court asked the government to explain why the actions of the RAB members did not violate Lemon’s fundamental rights, including the rights to equality before the law, life and personal liberty, safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention, and protection from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
In 2011, RAB-8 members shot Lemon in the left leg in Jhalakati, causing severe injuries.
Due to the injury and lack of timely medical treatment, his left leg had to be amputated.
He was also falsely implicated in criminal cases and detained for more than 45 days.
On March 23, 2011, Lemon, then 16 and an SSC student, was shot in the left leg by a RAB-8 team in Jhalakati. He was later falsely accused in two cases under the Explosive Substances Act and the Penal Code.
More than 15 years later, no investigation report has been made public and no official has been held accountable, senior lawyer Sara Hossain told journalists after moving the writ petition.
‘It has been 15 long years since Lemon, then a vulnerable child, was shot at, permanently disabled, arrested on false charges and subjected to repeated harassment,’ she said. ‘Those responsible have enjoyed total impunity.’
Sara Hossain was assisted by advocates Dr Qazi Zahed Iqbal, Abdullah Al Noman, Priya Ahsan Chowdhury, and Bonorupa Roy.
