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Published : 16 Apr 2025, 02:30 PM
A Dhaka court has authorised the arrest of journalist couple Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa in two murder cases linked to last year's anti-discrimination protests in Jatrabari.
Mozammel Haque Babu, former managing director of Ekattor Television, has also been officially arrested in one of the two murder cases filed with Jatrabari Police Station.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Minhazur Rahman approved their arrests in these cases after a hearing on the investigating officer’s petition on Wednesday.
The three were brought to the courtroom from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court lockup for the hearing around 9:50am. They had arrived at the court premises around 9am.
Following the hearing, the judge approved the petition to record Shakil and Rupa as arrested in connection with the murders of Imran Hasan from Kutubkhali and madrasa student Syed Muntasir Rahman from Dania, both under Jatrabari Police Station.
The court also granted the petition to show Mozammel Babu as arrested in the case over Imran’s killing.
Rupa was formerly the principal correspondent of Ekattor TV, and Shakil served as the station’s head of news.
They were arrested on Aug 21, 2024, at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport while allegedly attempting to leave the country after the fall of the Awami League government. They have since been shown arrested in multiple cases and remanded several times.
Babu was arrested on Sept 17, 2024, from the Dobaura border in Mymensingh.
According to the case filings, Imran Hasan had joined a protest in North Kutubkhali's Bou Bazar area in Jatrabari on Aug 5, 2024. He was reportedly shot by the accused around 1pm and later died while during treatment at a hospital.
His mother, Kohinur Akter, filed a murder case with Jatrabari Police Station on Sept 6, 2024, naming 297 people, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
In the second case, madrasa student Syed Muntasir Rahman took part in a protest in the Dania area on the same day and was also reportedly shot by the accused. He was declared dead at the hospital.
On Sept 11, Muntasir's father Syed Gaziur Rahman filed a murder case at Jatrabari Police Station naming 157 people, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
