Court Report: Assistant Commissioner Saiful Islam and Rangamati’s Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) Anirban Chowdhury have been arrested and sent to jail for allegedly ordering police to open fire during the anti-discrimination protests in Narsingdi as part of the July movement.

The International Crimes Tribunal issued the order to send them to prison.

On Monday, Saiful Islam, accused in a genocide case related to the Narsingdi incident, was presented before the tribunal.

Later, the tribunal ordered both Saiful Islam and Additional SP Anirban Chowdhury to be taken into custody over the same allegations.

According to prosecution sources, Executive Magistrate Saiful Islam directly instructed the police to shoot.

Confirming the matter, Chief Prosecutor of the tribunal Advocate Tazul Islam stated that several executive magistrates involved in issuing the order to fire have already been identified, and legal action will be taken against them in due course.

On July 18, during an anti-discrimination protest in Narsingdi, a neighboring district of Dhaka, a tenth-grade student named Tahmid Bhuiyan was shot and killed by police.

The incident enraged locals, and as protestors marched with Tahmid’s body, police reportedly opened fire again, resulting in another death.

During the July movement, nearly 20 people were killed and over a thousand injured in Narsingdi alone.

So far, 141 individuals have been charged in 22 cases related to the July massacre, but only 54 have been arrested — most of whom are police personnel. Chief Prosecutor Tazul Islam mentioned that the investigation report would reveal the involvement of individuals from various professions.