Mirajul Islam Ornob, a resident of Naria in Shariatpur, was employed at a private firm in Dhaka for four months before the July movement began. Residing in Basila West Dhanmondi Housing, Mohammadpur, he joined the protests on July 19 following Friday prayers. On that day, reports indicated that a special Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) helicopter team was deployed across Mohammadpur under the directives of the former Prime Minister, with significant activity observed in Basila. By the afternoon, as crowds gathered near the RAB-2 headquarters and threw stones, the situation escalated, resulting in Ornob being fatally shot near the slope of the Basila Bridge.
Two months after the incident, Ornob’s mother filed a case naming over a hundred unidentified individuals, which the court referred to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) for inquiry. Inspector Tarikul Islam of the PBI’s Shyamli office, who has been investigating since November 2024, noted the difficulty in identifying suspects as all were listed as unknown. The lack of CCTV footage or video evidence from the scene has hindered progress, though a post-mortem report from Suhrawardy Hospital has confirmed the cause of death. Similarly, Md. Mansur from Basila North Para was killed under the same bridge that day. His brother, Ainal Haque, filed a case in late September naming RAB helicopter personnel, police, and senior Awami League leaders, yet the PBI has been unable to submit a report after eighteen months of investigation.
The investigation into July movement cases faces systemic delays, with approximately 88 percent of homicide and attempted homicide cases still pending. Investigators from various agencies, including the police, CID, PBI, DB, and ATU, cite the filing of multiple, overlapping cases for single incidents as a major hurdle. Many cases include hundreds or thousands of accused, some of whom are deceased or living abroad, complicating the verification process. Furthermore, the absence of reliable CCTV footage and the time-consuming nature of verifying social media content, forensic evidence, and digital logs have slowed proceedings. Many potential witnesses are either fearful, have relocated, or provide inconsistent testimonies, while the sensitivity of these cases requires investigators to ensure high standards of evidence to withstand judicial scrutiny.
Official data from the police headquarters and the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court reveals that 801 homicide cases and 1,064 cases involving attempted homicide and other charges were filed nationwide following the movement, involving 154,331 accused. Nearly two years later, charge sheets have been submitted for only 259 cases, representing 13.89 percent of the total. In Dhaka specifically, 789 cases were filed; as of July 21, police had submitted reports for 37, including 28 homicide cases. Two of these cases have already reached the charge framing stage in the metropolitan court.
The PBI has been tasked with investigating 82 cases filed directly in court and 197 additional CR cases, totaling 279 matters. By July 21, the agency completed investigations into 208 of these, including 49 homicide cases, with 71 still ongoing. Meanwhile, the International Crimes Tribunal is conducting separate proceedings related to the July killings, with some cases already reaching the verdict stage. For the majority of cases filed across Dhaka’s 50 police stations and courts, investigations remain in the preliminary stages, preventing the commencement of trials.
Public Prosecutor Advocate Md. Omar Faruk Faruki stated that several final reports have been submitted to the court, and trials are expected to begin shortly. He emphasized that while some cases have moved to the charge hearing phase, there were instances of poor coordination, leading to the inclusion of innocent individuals and the omission of actual perpetrators. PBI Superintendent Abu Yusuf added that investigations are further complicated by discrepancies in FIRs, where victims are sometimes listed as being injured in locations they never visited. These complexities, combined with the necessity of exhuming bodies for post-mortem examinations in many homicide cases, continue to extend the timeline for justice.