Wednesday, 01 October, 2025
Police fired a staggering 305,311 rounds of ammunition nationwide during the July Uprising student protests last year on the orders of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, an investigation officer testified before the International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday.
Of the total, 95,313 rounds were discharged in Dhaka alone, in a state-directed attempt to crush the movement, according to Mohammad Alamgir, the tribunal’s 54th witness. He cited a 215-page Police Headquarters report detailing the deployment of lethal weapons, including LMGs, SMGs, Chinese rifles, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers.
Alamgir’s testimony coincided with the tribunal playing phone recordings of Hasina instructing former Dhaka South mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh to use force and expand surveillance on protesters.
A verified call log also suggests the ousted leader personally authorised the use of live fire. Investigators revealed that Hasina’s phone records were deleted on August 5, just before she fled to India; police are now attempting to recover them.
The testimony forms part of the first-ever crimes against humanity case against Hasina, heard in the same tribunal that once tried 1971 war criminals. Alongside Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and ex-IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are accused, with Al-Mamun already testifying as a state witness.
The investigation further drew on evidence from universities where students were killed or injured, postmortems of 81 unidentified bodies collected by Anjuman Mufidul Islam, medical certificates from national hospitals, and confessional statements. Reports also confirmed Rapid Action Battalion helicopters were used in operations.
The tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder with Justices Shafiul Alam Mahmud and Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury, is continuing to hear evidence in the landmark trial.
Earlier, two police officials told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that they had defied direct orders to open fire on unarmed student protesters during the July uprising, saying they believed every bullet would mean a life lost and the insutuction was carried out by the police following the order of the top of the government.
Testifying as prosecution witnesses, Ajay Ghosh and Naik Abdur Rahman, constables of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn), recounted how superior officers repeatedly instructed them and others to use lethal weapons against protesters in Dhaka's Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024. At least six students were killed there that day.
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Police fired a staggering 305,311 rounds of ammunition nationwide during the July Uprising student protests last year on the orders of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, an investigation officer testified before the International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday.
Of the total, 95,313 rounds were discharged in Dhaka alone, in a state-directed attempt to crush the movement, according to Mohammad Alamgir, the tribunal’s 54th witness. He cited a 215-page Police Headquarters report detailing the deployment of lethal weapons, including LMGs, SMGs, Chinese rifles, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers.
Alamgir’s testimony coincided with the tribunal playing phone recordings of Hasina instructing former Dhaka South mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh to use force and expand surveillance on protesters.
A verified call log also suggests the ousted leader personally authorised the use of live fire. Investigators revealed that Hasina’s phone records were deleted on August 5, just before she fled to India; police are now attempting to recover them.
The testimony forms part of the first-ever crimes against humanity case against Hasina, heard in the same tribunal that once tried 1971 war criminals. Alongside Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and ex-IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are accused, with Al-Mamun already testifying as a state witness.
The investigation further drew on evidence from universities where students were killed or injured, postmortems of 81 unidentified bodies collected by Anjuman Mufidul Islam, medical certificates from national hospitals, and confessional statements. Reports also confirmed Rapid Action Battalion helicopters were used in operations.
The tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder with Justices Shafiul Alam Mahmud and Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury, is continuing to hear evidence in the landmark trial.
Earlier, two police officials told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that they had defied direct orders to open fire on unarmed student protesters during the July uprising, saying they believed every bullet would mean a life lost and the insutuction was carried out by the police following the order of the top of the government.
Testifying as prosecution witnesses, Ajay Ghosh and Naik Abdur Rahman, constables of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn), recounted how superior officers repeatedly instructed them and others to use lethal weapons against protesters in Dhaka's Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024. At least six students were killed there that day.
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