Staff Reporter :
A tribunal in Dhaka today framed charges against all 25 accused in connection with the murder of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) student Abrar Fahad.
Twenty-two accused, now in jail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after Judge Abu Zafar Md Kamruzzaman of Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 of Dhaka read out charges to them.
Before that, the tribunal dismissed all the petitions submitted by lawyers for discharging them from the case.
The court fixed September 20 to start the trial of the case.
Abrar, a second-year student of electrical and electronic engineering department of Buet, died after he was brutally beaten allegedly by some Chhatra League men at Sher-e-Bangla hall of the university in the early hours of October 7, 2019.
Later, his father filed a case with Chawkbazar Police Station against 19 BCL leaders of Buet unit.
The incident triggered a firestorm of protests on campuses across the country. Many took to social media to demand justice for Abrar.
Amid protests on the campus, Buet authorities on October 11 banned all political activities on the campus and suspended 19 students, mostly leaders of the university’s BCL unit who were made accused in Abrar Fahad murder case.
On November 13 last year, detectives submitted a 105-page charge sheet against 25 Buet students in connection with the murder case.
Of them, 22 accused were earlier arrested and they were remanded several times. During the investigation, eight of the accused gave confessional statements to magistrates on different dates.
Three of the accused have been absconding since the incident.
Following the charge sheet, the court had issued arrest warrants against them. The court also ordered to publish advertisements in two national dailies asking the three fugitives to appear before the court within a stipulated period.
But the three fugitives were yet to surrender before the court.
