‘Bullet pierced Siam’s eye before striking my head’: Witness recounts killings at Mirpur-10 during July Uprising

A witness in the case against former private industry affairs adviser to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Salman F Rahman and former Law Minister Anisul Huq on Wednesday recounted how he was hit by a bullet that had pierced the head of a fellow protester during the 2024 July Uprising, leaving him unconscious.

Md Al Amin Hossain, general secretary of the Pallabi thana unit of the Sramik Dal, told International Crimes Tribunal-1 that he regained consciousness to find the brain and blood of a youth named Siam Sardar, who was standing in front of him, smeared across his T-shirt.

Al Amin gave the account as Prosecution Witness No 11 in the case against Salman and Anisul over alleged crimes against humanity, including incitement to mass killings through the imposition of a curfew during the uprising.

He appeared before a single-member bench of the tribunal headed by Justice Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.

Recalling the night of July 18, 2024, Al Amin said the student-people movement was at its peak in front of Popular Diagnostic Hospital in Mirpur-10.

“From July 1 to August 5, 2024, we participated in the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement,” he said in his deposition.

He said that after 10pm that night, police and some plainclothes personnel suddenly began indiscriminately firing at protesters.

Siam Sardar, an employee of Rabbani Hotel, was standing directly in front of Al Amin at the time, he said.

A bullet fired by police pierced Siam’s left eye and exited through the back of his head. The bullet then struck Al Amin in the head, causing him to collapse on the ground and lose consciousness.

While locals were pouring water on his head, Al Amin said he was unaware of what had happened.

“When I regained consciousness, I saw that my T-shirt was covered with my fellow protester Siam’s brain and fresh blood,” he said.

Siam was taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in critical condition, where doctors declared him dead.

Al Amin said the death of Siam and the brutality witnessed that night did not deter the protesters. Instead, they remained at Mirpur-10 throughout the night, carrying the bloodstains on their chests.

The following morning, July 19, people again took to the streets, he said.

That day, armed men of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, Jubo League and Awami League rode motorcycles in rallies and indiscriminately opened fire on protesters, according to his deposition.

Asif, Parvez and Rubel of Jutpotti were among those killed, he said.

Al Amin also alleged that the killings were carried out on the direct instructions of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Salman F Rahman and Anisul Huq.

Referring to audio call recordings involving Salman F Rahman and Anisul Huq that emerged after August 5, he said the final conspiracy to “finish off” the protesters by imposing a curfew had been hatched at the highest level.

Al Amin currently runs a garment business and serves as general secretary of the Pallabi thana unit of the Sramik Dal. He was the organisational secretary of the same unit in 2024.

The tribunal completed his deposition on Wednesday, following which lawyers for the accused cross-examined him.

The court fixed August 25 for the next hearing of testimony.