Panic over the death of 7 people in Mahipal, Feni

August 4, 2024. When the wave of a phased movement against dictatorship spread across the country, Mahipal, Feni was in turmoil. Thousands of students and ordinary people took to the streets demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina. At one point, the Mahipal area turned into a battlefield as students and ordinary people clashed with the police and armed leaders and activists supported by the Awami League. Seven protesters lost their lives in the shooting.
A horrific picture of that day has emerged from the memories of the participants and eyewitnesses of the movement. According to them, students and ordinary people in Mahipal, Feni had been observing a peaceful sit-in program since morning. On the other hand, armed leaders and activists of the Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League took positions on the main road of the city. The situation heated up after noon. Then the shooting began. Seven people were killed in the Mahipal area of ​​the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in the shooting of Awami League leaders and activists.
A day later, on August 5, the Awami League-led government fell. However, two years after the change of government, protesters allege that none of the main accused in the Mahipal murder have been arrested. The whereabouts of many gunmen are still unknown.
As part of the central program, hundreds of students and ordinary people from six upazilas of the district gathered under the Mahipal flyover from the morning of August 4. They kept shouting slogans. When the call to prayer for Zohr rang out around 1 pm, the protesters prepared to offer prayers on the highway.
At that time, armed Awami League leaders and workers approached Mahipal from the main road and started firing indiscriminately. Five people were killed on the spot. More than a hundred students and ordinary people were shot. After the attackers left, the injured were taken to the 250-bed Feni General Hospital. Two more died there.
The seven people killed in Feni were—student Ishtiaq Ahmed Shraban, Md. Mahbubul Hasan, Md. Sarwar Jahan, Wakil Ahmed, Saidul Islam, Zakir Hossain and auto-rickshaw driver Md. Sabuj. In addition, four more Feni residents were killed in Dhaka and Chittagong while participating in the movement.
22 cases have been filed at Feni Sadar Model Police Station in this incident. Of these, seven are murder and 15 are attempted murder cases. Charge sheets have been submitted to the court in three cases. In these cases, 2,199 people have been named in the charges and another 4,000 have been made anonymous defendants. Notable accused include former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, three former Feni MPs and top leaders of the district Awami League.
Law enforcement agencies have so far arrested more than a thousand accused, both named and unnamed in the charges. Of these, 11 have given confessional statements in court under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. However, the main planner and most of the gunmen are still absconding.
According to photos published in various media outlets, at least 30 people were carrying pistols, rifles and shotguns on the day of the murder. Among them, Noor Nabi member and Jubo League leader Samrat was arrested and given a statement under Section 164. However, it was not possible to arrest the others and the weapons used by them could not be recovered.
Muhaimin Tajim, former Feni district coordinator of the anti-discrimination movement and senior joint member secretary of the NCP, told Jugantar, “We had chosen Mahipal for the program to avoid conflict. A peaceful program was going on there. But we were attacked with weapons. Even two years later, that memory haunts us.”
He alleged that many involved in the murders of that day are still in the area or in the country. They are also threatening us in various ways. This is a failure of the administration. Security and justice – none of them could be ensured. He demanded the implementation of the July Charter, proper treatment and rehabilitation of the injured, standing by the families of the martyrs and ensuring speedy trial of all murders.
Feni Model Police Station OC Fauzal Azim said that many gunmen have been identified. However, the exact location of the weapons used is not yet known. Various units are working to recover illegal weapons. It is believed that the weapons have been removed elsewhere.
Feni Superintendent of Police Pratyush Kumar Majumder said that the investigation and judicial proceedings of the murder and violence cases filed in connection with the mass uprising are progressing. The issue of identifying the real criminals and including them in the charge sheet is being given utmost importance.
He said that seven cases of murder and 15 injuries have been filed in the Mahipal murder case. About 2,500 people have been accused in these cases. About 1,200 of them have been arrested. The Superintendent of Police said that most of those who carried out the attack using weapons are absconding. However, the operation to arrest them and recover weapons is ongoing.