A Cox’s Bazar court has opened the trial of 15 people, including 12 former policemen, over the murder of retired army major Sinha Md Rashed Khan.
District and Sessions Judge Md Ismail framed the charges against the suspects and set Jul 26 to open recording statements of the witnesses, reports bdnews24.com.
The court will hear from 10 of the indicted people on an opening day, said state counsel Faridul Alam.
The accused include former sub-inspectors Liakat Ali and Nanda Dulal Raxit, former Teknaf Police Station OC Pradip Kumar Das, former constables Shafanur Karim, Kamal Hossain, Abdullah Al Mamun, Rubel Sharma and Mohammad Mostafa, former ASI Sagar Deb, Armed Police Battalion’s SI Mohammad Shahjahan and constables Mohammad Rajib and Mohammad Abdullah.
The three other accused -- Nurul Amin, Nezam Uddin ad Mohammad Ayaz -- were initially named as witnesses in a case started by the police over the incident.
The court dismissed bail pleas of Pradip, Dulal and Sagar, said lawyer Faridul.
The authorities strengthened security as all the accused were escorted to the court from Cox’s Bazar District Prison.
The case's investigation officer, Md Khairul Islam, who is working for the Rapid Action Battalion, pressed the formal charges against the 15 on Dec 13, 2020.
Sinha, 36, was a member of the Special Security Force tasked with guarding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He had gone into early retirement to pursue his interests. His father late Ershad Khan was a deputy secretary at the finance ministry.
Sinha was shot dead by Liakat at a checkpoint on the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive on the night of Jul 31 last year.
The former army officer had been staying at Nilima Resort in Himchhari of Cox’s Bazar with three others for around a month to film a travel documentary.
After his death, the police said they fired in self-defence when Sinha brandished a pistol at law enforcers after obstructing a search of his vehicle at the checkpoint at Shamlapur along the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive.
The police then arrested Sinha’s co-workers Shahadul Islam Sefat and Shipra Debnath. Sinha and Sefat were accused in two cases of Sinha’s death and alleged recovery of drugs.
The home ministry formed a high-level probe committee after questions were raised about the details of the incident provided by the police while allegations of ‘extrajudicial killings’ against the police also resurfaced.
Sinha’s sister Sharmin Shahria Ferdous subsequently started a case against nine policemen on Aug 5.
Later, seven policemen, including Liakat and Pradip, surrendered to the court in connection with the case filed by Sinha's sister. They were also suspended from their jobs.
The government also made wholesale changes to the police force in Cox's Bazar with almost all police personnel, including top officers and constables, being transferred out of the district.
