Fresh probe into Maj Gen Manzur murder case

A Dhaka court has ordered reinvestigation into the 1981 murder of Maj Gen Md Abul Manzur following a plea by the state.
Dhaka’s First Additional District and Sessions Judge Khandaker Hasan Mahmud Firoz gave the order Thursday.
The CID has been ordered to reinvestigate the murder going back over 30 years and submit a report on Apr 22.
The prime accused in the case is former military dictator and Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad, who is now the special envoy of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Ershad was present at the court Thursday.
Apart from him, the four other accused are Maj (retd) Kazi Emdadul Haque, Lt Col (retd) Mostafa Kamaluddin Bhuiyan, Lt Col (retd) Shamsur Rahman Shams and Maj Gen (retd) Abdul Latif.
Thursday’s order further postpones the verdict in the case. It was supposed to have been delivered on Feb 10 but was deferred after Judge Firoz replaced the previous Judge Hosney Ara Aktar.
The new judge had set Feb 27 for fresh hearing for the arguments in the case.
State counsel Asaduzzaman Khan Rochi Thursday pleaded a reinvestigation in order to include several important witnesses in the charge-sheet.
Ershad’s lawyer Sheikh Sirajul Islam opposed his plea and said it was only a ploy to delay the verdict, according to a news agency.
All the accused including Ershad are out on bail given by the High Court. Legal proceedings against Lt Col Shams and Maj Gen (retd) Latif have been stopped by the High Court.
President Ziaur Rahman was assassinated by a group of soldiers on May 30, 1981.
Police arrested Maj Gen Manzur afterwards. He was blamed for Zia’s assassination in Chittagong.
According to the case details, Manzur was brought from police custody to the Chittagong Cantonment by Maj Kazi Emdadul, where he was shot and killed on June 1, 1981.
His brother Barrister Abul Mansur Ahmed filed the case with Panchlais Police Station in Chittagong on Feb 28, 1995, 14 years after the murder.
Erstwhile Assistant Superintendent of Police Abdul Kahar Akand had pressed charges against the accused.
But it took another 18 years for the case to reach a point of verdict due to changes in government and time sought by the prosecution.
A total of 28 people have testified during the hearing including the case’s investigation officer Abdul Kahar.