Van used to burn Ashulia protesters headed to July Museum after activists intervene

A police pickup van linked to the burning of protesters in Ashulia during the July uprising has resurfaced after nearly two years and is now set to be preserved at the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum.

Ehsan Mahmud, director general of the museum, told Daily Waadaa that the museum has begun the process of taking the vehicle into its custody.

“This is a symbol of the July mass uprising and a reminder of the horrors of the Hasina regime,” Mahmud said. “We are taking the necessary steps to preserve and display it at the July Museum.”

The transfer will require government procedures and necessary approvals, he said, but the process has already begun.

The vehicle was located on Thursday during a land-recovery drive at Baipail in Ashulia, Savar.

It had been kept at a temporary police dumping area on privately owned land along with other case exhibits.

News of the vehicle drew July uprising activists and local residents to the site. They demanded that it be preserved rather than discarded or damaged.

The van is linked to one of the most disturbing episodes of August 5, 2024, the day Sheikh Hasina’s government fell.

Protesters were shot near Ashulia Police Station that afternoon.

According to the case brought before the International Crimes Tribunal, bodies of the victims were subsequently loaded onto a vehicle and set on fire.

Six people were killed in the incident. One of the victims was still alive when the fire was set, according to the case.

The episode was also documented by the UN human rights office, which examined video footage showing bodies being placed on a vehicle near Ashulia Police Station before they were burned.

The tribunal later convicted people over the killings and burning. The physical vehicle, however, had remained at the dumping site for nearly two years.

Its discovery has now raised questions among activists about why an exhibit linked to such a significant case was not kept in a more secure location.

Members of the July Revolutionary Alliance, or JRA, said they intervened on Thursday after learning that the van was being moved from the site.

Saleh Mahmud Rayhan, president of JRA, told Waadaa that the vehicle was a significant piece of evidence that had been left without proper preservation.

“The International Crimes Tribunal has already delivered its verdict in this case. Yet such an important piece of evidence was left like this for two years,” Rayhan said.

JRA said its members stopped the vehicle from being damaged and recovered what they described as burnt bones, a key ring and other material that could potentially constitute evidence.

The group also alleged on social media that the vehicle was about to be crushed or otherwise damaged and called for its immediate preservation at the July Museum.

Police disputed that account.

Tariqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station, said the vehicle had been stored on the private property because the police station lacked sufficient space for case exhibits.

“It was on privately owned land because we do not have our own space at the police station,” Tariqul told Waadaa.

“As the owner was taking back the land, the exhibits were moved to our own facility at Kabirpur.”

Police therefore maintain that the van was being relocated, not destroyed.

The museum now plans to preserve and display the vehicle as an artefact of the July uprising once the required legal and administrative procedures are completed.

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