Citizens outraged as 5,400 Awami League supporters sued for Gopalganj killings

After refusing to conduct the postmortem of the deceased, who had bullet injuries due to indiscriminate shooting by the Bangladesh Army and the police on Wednesday, four murder cases have now been filed against over 5,400 unnamed Awami League members.

The police filed the cases at the Sadar police station on Saturday night, amidst a curfew and mass arrests by the joint forces.

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Earlier, police filed four cases against over 3,000 Awami League leaders and activists for the violence.

The deceased who have been identified are Sohel Molla, Emon Talukder, Ramzan Ali, Dipto Saha and Ramzan Munshi.

Journalists and rights activists have condemned the Jamaat-controlled interim government, led by NCP patron Muhammad Yunus, for falsely accusing the Awami League activists of the murders, non-autopsy of the deceased, and mass arrests.

They said that the whole country saw on TV and social media livestreams the brutality unleashed by the army and the police when several hundred protesters took to the streets against the rally of the National Citizen Party (NCP).

Before the rally, the NCP leaders had been provoking violence by threatening to demolish Bangabandhu’s mausoleum at Tungipara. They also gave infuriating speeches during the rally at the municipality park.

Independent researchers have identified at least three army officers and two advisers for masterminding the massacre.

The army officers are the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 55th Infantry Division and Jessore Cantonment, Major General JM Emdadul Islam; Brigade Commander Brigadier General Md Mizanur Rahman; and Field Officer Lt Col ZM Mabruk.

Meanwhile, Home Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and LGRD Adviser Asif Mahmud gave instructions to the army and the police while monitoring the situation on CCTV at the Police Headquarters.

On Sunday, the government admitted to having arrested 277 people, including nine children, who were sent to jail by the court.

Local people reported torture and abuse during wholesale arrests. Social media videos and photos show the army brutally torturing people while raiding houses and business establishments.