Mirza Rakibul Huda was a retired police officer and former commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Chittagong Metropolitan Police. [1] [2] He is best known for ordering the 1988 Chittagong massacre. [3]
During the Bangladesh Liberation War, Huda served as a major in the artillery unit of Pakistan Army in Jessore. [4] He was taken prisoner of war and returned to Bangladesh after the end of the war. [4] He was one of 17 former officers of Pakistan Army inducted into Bangladesh Police by president Ziaur Rahman. [4] [5]
Huda ordered the Chittagong Metropolitan Police to fire on a rally of the Awami League on 24 January 1988 killing 24 in the incident known as the 1988 Chittagong massacre. [6] [7] The rally was led by future Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. [6] Hasina was saved by members of the Chattogram District Bar Association and taken to Chittagong Court. [8] The bodies were taken to a crematorium and journalists were refused access. [9] On 5 March 1992, after the fall of president Hussain Mohammad Ershad, a case was filed over the massacre and Huda was one of the accused by advocate Shahidul Huda. [6] [10] [11] The court initially rejected the case as the accused were police officers. [12] The police pressed charges in 1998 after Sheikh Hasina led Awami League came to power. [6] [13] The Criminal Investigation Department pressed supplemental charge sheets including Huda and inspector Gobinda Chandra Mondal. [10] The plaintiff in the case died in 2005 and his son, Ershad Hossain, took over the case. [8]
Huda moved to the United States with his wife. [13] The trial stalled in 2019 over confusion if Huda was alive or dead following reports he had died in the United States. [13]
In 2020, five police officers were sentenced to death, except Huda who had died during the trial. [14] Anupam Sen testified at the trial. [11] Awami League marks 24 January as the Chittagong massacre day. [15]
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