রাজধানীর চানখাঁরপুল এলাকায় জুলাই বিপ্লবের সময় সংঘটিত ৬The murders of the victims, including Shahriar Khan Anas, have led to a human rights crime case. On Tuesday morning, four defendants in the case were presented before the International Crimes Tribunal-1.

The three-member judicial panel, led by Chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal-1, Golam Murtuza Majumder, will announce the verdict. The other two members of the tribunal are Justice Shafiul Alam Mahmud and retired District and Sessions Judge Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.

The tribunal had previously set this date for the verdict after the prosecution and defense completed their arguments on December 24th. The verdict is scheduled to be delivered approximately eight months after the formal indictment. This will be the second verdict in a human rights crime case related to the July Revolution of 2024.

Earlier, on November 17th of the previous year, the tribunal delivered its first verdict in a human rights crime case against the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two of her top associates. In that verdict, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was sentenced to death along with Sheikh Hasina. Additionally, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Regarding the case, Prosecutor Gazi Tamim stated that the prosecution presented the testimonies of 26 witnesses, along with numerous documents, audio-visual materials, and forensic evidence. This evidence includes recordings of conversations between Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, wireless audio messages from the then DMP Commissioner Habib-ur-Rahman, video footage of police firing, death certificates of the victims, and records of arms issuance to police personnel on the day of the incident.

He further added that officials whose names were on the arms issuance list but did not fire their weapons have also testified before the tribunal. Based on this evidence, they are confident that the charges brought against all the defendants have been proven beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, they have requested the maximum penalty, as well as the confiscation of the property of the absconding defendants to provide compensation to the affected families.

The eight defendants in the Chanakhpul case are: former Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Habib-ur-Rahman, then DMP Joint Commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, former Additional Deputy Commissioner Shah Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam, former Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Imrul of DMP’s Ramna Zone, former Inspector (Operations) of Shahbagh Police Station Arshad Hossain, Constable Sujon, Imaj Hossain, and Nasirul Islam. Among them, Arshad, Sujon, Imaj, and Nasirul are currently in jail. The remaining defendants are absconding.

The defendants are accused of conspiracy, incitement, abetment, and direct involvement in the murders of six individuals through indiscriminate firing during the July Revolution. The government led by Sheikh Hasina fell in the face of the movement, and she was forced to flee to India. Additionally, four senior police officers have been charged under the “Superior Command Responsibility” or the responsibility of top leadership.

According to the prosecution’s allegations, senior officials including Habib-ur-Rahman, Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, and Mohammad Imrul directly ordered the killings, provided instructions at the scene, and aided in the murders. The list of martyrs mentioned in the case includes Shahriar Khan Anas, Sheikh Mahdi Hasan Junayed, Mohammad Yakub, Rakib Hawlader, Ishamul Haque, and Manik Mia.

On April 20th, after investigating the killings, the investigation agency of the ICT submitted its first investigation report against eight police officers. The first prosecution witness in this case, Shahriar Khan Palash, who is the father of the martyred Shahriar Khan Anas, testified on August 11, 2025. A total of 26 prosecution witnesses and one defense witness have testified in the case.