BNP Accuses Hasina Of Abducting And Killing 2276 Activists

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has filed a complaint with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) accusing the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and law enforcement officers of involvement in the killing and disappearance of 2,276 party leaders and activists through crossfire.

Md. Salahuddin Khan, the coordinator of BNP's Case Collection and Information Cell, submitted two separate complaints to the tribunal's prosecution wing on Thursday (January 9). Advocate Nurul Islam Zahid, a member of the cell, accompanied him during the submission.  

The 20-page crossfire complaint, signed by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, claims that the crossfires and disappearances occurred between 2008 and August 5, 2024. The BNP also submitted a list of the victims alongside the complaint.  

For investigative purposes, the BNP withheld the names of the accused from journalists, but the prosecution received the full list.  

At the tribunal premises, Md. Salahuddin Khan alleged that the Awami League government used crossfire and enforced disappearances to suppress BNP leaders and activists during their tenure. He stated that from 2008 to August 5, 2024, Awami League 'terrorists' and members of law enforcement agencies killed 2,276 BNP leaders and activists in the name of crossfire. Additionally, 153 leaders and activists were forcibly disappeared.  

Salahuddin further claimed that many of the disappeared individuals had either been killed or remained unaccounted for.