Bangladesh’s veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is amongst 156 people named in a murder case FIR filed in Dhaka’s Adabor area, in connection with the protests called by students in the country earlier this month.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, the FIR was filed on August 22 by Rubel’s father, Rafiqul Islam, which names 154 local Awami League leaders and activists accused of his son’s demise on August 7, including Shakib and then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who subsequently fled to India.
“Besides them, another 400-500 unnamed people were also accused in the case. According to the case statement, Rubel joined the peaceful protests of the Student Movement against Discrimination demanding quota reforms in government jobs on August 5 in the Adabor Area.”
“Following orders from Hasina and the other accused, unidentified people attacked the protesting students by firing against them. During this incident, two bullets hit Rubel on his chest, thereby causing grave injuries to which he eventually succumbed. As per the chargesheet, he is said to be accused no.28 in the FIR lodged by Rafiqul,” said the report.
However, Shakib was not in Bangladesh during that time, as he was turning out for Bangla Tigers Mississauga at Canada’s Global T20 Canada league in Brampton. Before that, Shakib was playing for Los Angeles Knight Riders in the second season of the Major League Cricket (MLC).
Shakib was elected as a Member of Parliament from his hometown Magura-2 constituency during the last general elections as an Awami League member. But the left-arm spin all-rounder hasn’t returned to Bangladesh since the Awami League government was dissolved.
Currently, Bangladesh is run by an interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has also led to Faruque Ahmed being the new head of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Shakib, meanwhile, is currently playing the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.