Osman Hadi Murder : Order to Add Section 302 of Penal Code to Case

A court here has ordered to add section 302 of the Penal Code to the attempt to murder case of the convenor of Inqilab Mancha and an independent candidate in the 13th National Election from Dhaka-8 constituency Sharif Osman Hadi.

Metropolitan Magistrate Siddiq Azad passed the order on Saturday following an application submitted by the investigating officer (IO) of the case.

Sub-Inspector Roknuzzaman, the General Registration Officer of the Paltan Police Station Court today confirmed the matter to BSS.

Earlier on Saturday, Inspector Faisal Ahmed of the Detective Branch (DB) of police and also the IO, submitted an application to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court seeking the addition of section 302 to the case.

The application stated that the absconding accused named in the FIR, Faisal Karim Masud alias Daud (37), along with unidentified accomplices, were involved in a conspiracy after the announcement of the election schedule for the 13th National Parliamentary Election on December 11. 

Their objectives included creating chaos and instability in the country, spreading fear and panic among the public, obstructing the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election, undermining the morale of interested candidates and ultimately sabotaging the election process.

As part of this plan, on December 12 at about 2:20 pm, after completing election campaigning following Jumma prayers at Motijheel (WAPDA) Mosque) and while heading toward Suhrawardy Udyan, the accused followed the auto-rickshaw carrying Sharif Osman Hadi. 

When the vehicle reached at the paved road in front of DR Tower on Box Culvert Road under Paltan Police Station, facing the Bijoynagar water tank, the accused riding on a motorcycle opened fire at Sharif Osman Hadi with firearms in a bid to kill him and then fled the scene.

Sharif Osman Hadi was first taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in a critical condition. As his condition worsened, he was later shifted to Evercare Hospital. 

Later, due to further deterioration of his health, he was taken to Singapore for advanced treatment. He died on December 18 while undergoing treatment at a hospital there. His body was brought back to Bangladesh on December 19.

The application further noted that the case involved a sensational murder incident, and in the interest of proper investigation, it is necessary to add section 302 of the Penal Code to the charges already included in the case.

It is worth mentioning that following the shooting incident, on December 14, Abdullah Al Jaber, member secretary of the Inqilab Mancha, filed a case at Paltan Police Station on charges of attempted murder. The accused were charged under sections 120(B)/326/307/109/34 of the Penal Code.