HC Orders 12 to Surrender in Abid Murder Case

The High Court today ordered 12 former leaders and activists of the now-banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) to surrender within 30 days in connection with the 2011 murder of Chattogram Medical College (CMC) student Abidur Rahman Abid.

The accused had previously been acquitted by a lower court, but the HC bench comprising Justice Md Zakir Hossain and Justice Sayed Jahed Mansur issued the surrender order after hearing a writ petition challenging that verdict.

"The court has also issued a rule asking the relevant authorities to explain why the lower court's acquittal of all the accused should not be overturned," Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir, lawyer for the petitioner, told reporters.

Abid was reportedly beaten to death by BCL members at a CMC dormitory on October 19, 2011, allegedly due to suspicions of his affiliation with Chhatra Dal. He died from his injuries two days later.

His uncle, Neyamat Ullah, filed a case against 22 BCL and CMC student union members. Police later charged 12 of them in February 2012, but a Chattogram court acquitted all of them on July 10, 2019.

Following the acquittal, the plaintiff appealed to the High Court seeking justice.