The High Court on Tuesday directed the inspector general of police to hand over, in seven days, the responsibility of investigation into murders of six students at Aminbazar in Savar from the Criminal Investigation Department to Rapid Action Battalion.
A bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Abdur Rob also asked RAB to complete the investigation in four months.
The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the parents of the six students of reputed institutions in the capital city who were beaten to death on July 18, 2011 by a mob with the police remaining onlookers.
The six students became victims of mop beating during an outing on the holy night of Shab-e-Barat at Keblar Char in Aminbazar near the capital.
The victims, Sitaf Jabi Munif was student of of Bangladesh University of Business and Technology, Shams Rahim Shamam of Maple Leaf International School, Tipu Sultan of Tejgaon College, Towhidur Rahman Palash, Kamruzzaman Kanto and Ibrahim Khalil of Mirpur Bangla College.
On June 17, another High Court bench had asked the police to complete the investigations in four 4 weeks.
The court had passed the order after the investigation officer, M Serajul Haque, an additional superintendent of CID had submitted the progress report of the investigation to the court.
In their petition on Tuesday, the parents requested the court to transfer the investigation responsibility of the case to RAB saying that the CID had failed to investigate the case.
On July 17 the court set July 11 to hold the hearing of the rule it had issued on August 3, 2011 asking the government and the police to explain why they should not be directed to take appropriate action against the elements and the policemen responsible for the killings.
The hearing over, a public interest litigation writ petition was filed by the National Forum for Protection of Human Rights.
On August 3, 2011, the same bench had ordered the chief metropolitan magistrate in Dhaka to form a committee to investigate into the incident.
Magistrate Utpal Chowdhury, who investigated the incident, said in the report he submitted to the High Court on September 8, 2011 that the six victims were innocent students and not robbers.
The judicial report also said that police on duty neglected their responsibility in saving the lives of the six students.
-With New Age input
