Former Education Minister Dipu Moni Sent to Jail After Remand in Rickshaw-Puller Murder Case
A Dhaka court has ordered former education minister Dipu Moni to be sent to jail after the completion of her remand in the case over the murder of rickshaw-puller Hafizul Shikdar in the capital's Badda area during the July movement. Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan passed the order on Friday.
On the day, after the end of her two-day remand, investigation officer Inspector Ridwanul Haque of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Dhaka Metro North, produced Dipu Moni before the court and prayed for her to be kept in jail. After the hearing, the court ordered her to be sent to prison.
The matter was confirmed by Sub-Inspector Kamal Uddin of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's prosecution division. He said that on 3 February 2025, the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate GM Farhan Ishtiaq had granted a two-day remand for Dipu Moni in this case. In October this year, the investigating officer applied to the court to execute that remand.
The court accepted the application and directed that the remand be executed within 15 working days. In line with the court's direction, Dipu Moni was taken into remand on Wednesday for interrogation. After questioning ended, the investigation officer produced her before the court on Friday and sought her detention in jail.
According to the case statement, on 20 July 2024, during the anti-discrimination student movement, auto-rickshaw puller Hafizul Shikdar (28) was waiting for a passenger in the Pragati Sarani area of Badda. At that time, he was killed by bullets fired by the accused to suppress the movement.
Following the incident, on 21 August that year, Hafizul's father Md Abubakar Shikdar filed a case with Badda Police Station, naming 179 people including then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and accusing another 300 to 400 unidentified people. Former education minister Dipu Moni is one of the accused in the case.
The former education minister of the Awami League government has been in jail since the fall of the government in August 2024, shown arrested in multiple cases. Her name appears in the accused lists of various murder cases filed over the July movement, and she is being shown arrested and taken on remand in those cases one by one.
Investigating officers say the information obtained during the remand interrogation in the Badda case is being verified. A charge sheet will be submitted to the court once the investigation is completed.
The killings committed during the July mass uprising remain a subject of widespread discussion across the country, with victims' families demanding swift and fair trials. Investigations into the cases filed at different police stations are progressing in phases.
Dipu Moni's lawyers are expected to file a bail petition in the case, and her bail hearing may take place before the court on the next scheduled date.
