Jahajbari ‘staged raid’ case: Formal charge filed against Hasina, 7 others

The prosecution of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Thursday submitted formal charges against eight individuals, including ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, over an alleged staged law-enforcement raid that resulted in the deaths of nine people.

Other high-profile accused include former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah, and former head of the police’s Special Branch, Monirul Islam.

ICT prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim confirmed the development to the media.

Earlier, on 24 March, 2025, ICT-1 ordered the arrest of AKM Shahidul Haque, Asaduzzaman Miah and the then assistant commissioner of the DMP’s Mirpur Zone, Jasim Uddin Mollah, in connection with the case.

According to the prosecution, members of various units of the DMP and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) carried out a raid on 26 July, 2016, at a house known locally as “Jahajbari” in the capital’s Kalyanpur area.

The prosecution alleges that the operation was staged and that the nine victims, who were portrayed as militants, had no links to militancy. It further claims that they had been held in police custody for an extended period and were later shot dead at close range.

Following the incident, then IGP AKM Shahidul Haque visited the scene and stated that the deceased were members of the banned militant organisation Neo-Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB).