Witness testifies to police brutality in Imam Hasan Taim killing at International Crimes Tribunal

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A tea shop owner provided harrowing testimony at the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Tuesday, detailing the killing of Imam Hasan Taim during the July mass uprising in Dhaka. Testifying as the 22nd witness in the case, Mohammad Salauddin Liton recounted how police officers coerced him and his customers out of his shop in the Kajla area of Jatrabari before subjecting them to brutal violence.

Liton testified that on July 20, 2024, Taim—a twelfth-grade student at Adamjinagar MW College and the son of a police officer—had visited his shop alongside two companions, Shahriar and Rahat. As gunfire erupted nearby around noon, Liton shuttered his shop to shelter the group. He described how police officers surrounded the store, threatening to open fire unless the shutter was lifted. Fearing for their lives, Liton complied and instructed the others to surrender.

According to the witness, the officers entered the shop, struck him, and forcibly dragged Taim, Shahriar, and Rahat outside. The police allegedly beat the victims with the butts of their rifles while keeping Liton at gunpoint. During the assault, officers also looted the shop, seizing food items, cigarettes, and 25,000 taka in cash from the register before ordering Liton to close his doors.

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Liton later emerged to find Taim lying on the ground, struggling with gunshot wounds. While he and Shahriar attempted to assist the dying youth, police intervened, threatening them with further violence if they did not leave immediately. The officers claimed they would handle the transport of the victim, forcing the witnesses to flee the scene.

The case involves 11 defendants accused of crimes against humanity. Among them are former Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman, along with eight other high-ranking officials who remain at large. Two additional defendants, former Jatrabari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abul Hasan and Sub-Inspector Mohammad Shahadat Ali, are currently in custody. The victim’s father, Moinul Hossain Bhuiyan, serves as a sub-inspector at the Rajarbagh Police Lines.