Plaintiff Challenges DB Chargesheet in Osman Hadi Murder

Late Sharif Osman Hadi. Photo: Collected

The plaintiff in the murder case of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Sharif Osman bin Hadi has filed a no-confidence petition, rejecting the charge sheet submitted by the Detective Branch (DB) of police.

Inqilab Moncho Member Secretary Abdullah Al Jaber filed the petition before the court of Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam on Wednesday. The move was confirmed by the plaintiff’s counsel, advocate Mustafizur Rahman Mukul.

Earlier, on January 6, DB Inspector Faisal Ahmed, the investigation officer, submitted a charge sheet against 17 accused. On January 12, the plaintiff appeared before the court and sought time to review the charge sheet, which was granted until Wednesday. The court had fixed the day to hear arguments on whether the charge sheet should be accepted.

According to the charge sheet, six accused—including the prime suspect Faisal Karim Masud alias Daud, his associate Alamgir Hossain, Dhaka North Jubo League organising secretary and former ward councillor Taijul Islam Chowdhury Bappi, Philip Snal Philips, Mukti Akter and Faisal’s sister Jasmine Akter—are absconding.

The remaining 11 accused are currently in jail. They include Faisal’s father Md Humayun Kabir, mother Mosa Hasi Begum, wife Saheda Parveen Samia, girlfriend Maria Akter Lima, brother-in-law Wahid Ahmed Sipu, rent-a-car businessman Mufti Md Nuruzzaman Nomani alias Ujjal, close associate Md Kabir, Sibion Diu, Sanjoy Chisim, Md Aminul Islam alias Raju and Md Faisal, who was arrested in Narsingdi with weapons.

The investigation officer has sought arrest warrants against the six absconding accused.

During the hearing on the no-confidence petition, advocate Mukul argued that the charge sheet was submitted merely as a formality and without a proper, impartial investigation. He said the prosecution failed to clearly establish the link between the planners of the murder and those who carried out the shooting.

“Hadi was not an ordinary individual. There must have been a larger plan behind his killing. He was shot in public to send a message so that no one dares to speak out as he did,” Mukul told the court.

He further questioned the charge sheet’s focus on a ward-level political leader, describing it as inadequate to explain a crime of such scale. “A ward councillor alone cannot execute such a planned killing. There was certainly a bigger design behind this murder,” he said.

The lawyer also criticised the investigation for concentrating solely on the prime accused Faisal, calling the seizure of his cheque irrelevant and reflective of a weak probe. He questioned how the attackers managed to escape after committing a daylight murder and said the charge sheet offered no explanation of the logistics behind the crime.

Referring to the victim, Mukul said Sharif Osman Hadi had consistently spoken about justice and would have demanded accountability even in death. “In the interest of justice, we have filed this no-confidence petition,” he added.

After hearing the arguments, the court kept its order pending.

According to the case details, Sharif Osman Hadi formed the political and cultural platform Inqilab Moncho following the uprising and served as its spokesperson. On December 12, at around 2:20pm, assailants on a motorcycle shot him on Box Culvert Road under Paltan Model Police Station, leaving him critically injured.

He was taken first to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and later to a private hospital. As his condition worsened, he was flown to Singapore for advanced treatment on December 15, where he died on December 18.

Following the attack, Abdullah Al Jaber filed an attempted murder case with Paltan Police Station on December 14, which was later converted into a murder case after Hadi’s death.