Mitu murder: Babul's lawyer complains of not getting a certified case copy

Lawyer of Babul Akter, the prime accused in the Chattogram Mitu murder case, is pointing the finger at police for their non-cooperation and harassment in providing certified copies of the case, despite court approval in the matter.

"We are not getting certified copies of the Mahmuda Akhter Mitu murder case filed against her husband Babul Akhter in Chattogram, despite applying for the documents a month ago," said Babul's lawyer, Ifteker Saimul. 

 Saimul, also former president of the Chittagong District Bar Association, told The Business Standard, "On 23 June, we applied for a certified copy of the case. The certified copies section of the court approved our plea and we sent it to Sub Inspector Shaheen Bhuiyan, the general register officer (GRO) of Seresta at Panchlaish police station. However, he is delaying providing the documents on various pretexts. "

However, GRO SI Shaheen Bhuiyan claims he did not receive any such application.

Ajmal Huda, assistant lawyer for Iftekhar Saimul, said "Upon paying the required court fee, we applied for all the certified copies of the case from January to 23 June 2021. The court accepted our plea and asked us to collect the certified copies from the GRO. Although we have repeatedly contacted Panchlaish police station for the last one month, with court approval, the GRO has repeatedly been expressing inability to give the copies, saying that there is no such order."

Meanwhile, Jasim Uddin, an offficial of the certified copies section at Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court, said, "We have approved the plea of Babul Akter's lawyer regarding  certified copies for the Mitu murder case. They have repeatedly visited the police station but have not received any documents. The GRO of Panchlaish police station is delaying in providing the documents for some reason unknown to us. "

Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid told The Business Standard "Certified copies of any case are public documents. The accused has a full 100% right to the documents. The police officer here is talking about higher authorities. We do not know whether there is any other higher authority in the country above the court. "

Mitu was hacked and shot dead by attackers in Chattogram on her way to pick up her son from school on 5 June 2016. Babul, who was in Dhaka, filed a murder case a day later. The incident shook Bangladesh to the core – despite it being no stranger to violence on the streets.

Babul – initially a plaintiff in the Mitu murder case – turned into the remanded prime accused in a cruel twist of irony. The final report in that case was then submitted. Mitu's father Mosharraf Hossain filed a new case against Babul.