A prosecution witness yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that then ruling Awami League activists had threatened doctors at Dhaka hospital, instructing them to kill injured protesters of the July uprising by administering injections.
“AL men told doctors at Mugda Hospital, ‘They are still alive despite being shot. Kill them by pushing injections.’ I was admitted there alongside several others with bullet wounds,” witness Md Ruhul Amin, 55, told the tribunal while testifying as the sixth prosecution witness in a crimes against humanity case over the killing of 28 people in Rampura on July 18-19 in 2024.
Ruhul said following the intimidation, doctors had to release him from the hospital on July 20, 2024, a day after he was admitted with a bullet wound below his waist.
He also said after he returned home in Dhaka’s Meradia, several AL activists went and threatened him and asked him to leave the area since he had been shot. “My son-in-law assured me not to leave,” he added.
Two former BGB officers — Lt Col Mohammad Redowanul Islam and Maj Rafat Bin Alam Moon — and two former police officers — then additional deputy commissioner of Khilgaon Md Rashedul Islam and then officer-in-charge of Rampura Police Station Md Moshior Rahman — are accused in the case.
Redowanul and Rafat are in custody, while Rashedul and Moshior are absconding.
Recounting the incident, Ruhul said he went to Meradia kitchen market on July 19 to observe the student protest when BGB personnel, police, and AL men began firing at protesters.
“I saw several people die and many others collapse on the road,” he said, adding that a bullet pierced through his body below the waist as he tried to flee. After he collapsed on the road, locals took him to Mugda Hospital.
Ruhul sought punishment for the accused.
Another prosecution witness, Saifur Rahman, also testified yesterday and said he saw several BGB members firing at protesters on Avenue Road. Later, while visiting two nearby hospitals, he saw the bodies of seven to eight victims and at least 20-25 injured people.