Dhaka, February 13 (V7N) –Mir Mughdo, a 25-year-old student, was shot dead while distributing water to the protesters in Uttara on July 18.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its Fact-Finding Report titled "Human Rights Violations and Abuses related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh" on 12 February.
About the extrajudicial killings of police, RAB and BGB in Uttara on that day, the UN report reveals the victim and eyewitness testimonies confirmed the use of disproportionate force by security forces to disperse students and other protesters around several locations in Uttara, including the BNS Centre, Azampur, Uttara East Police Station and Milestone College.
In the morning on 18 July, police - reinforced by RAB, Armed Police Battalions, BGB, Ansar and armed Awami League supporters prepositioned themselves at BNS Centre in Uttara, in anticipation of a major protest that was scheduled that morning.
Clashes erupted at about 11:30am when police and RAB deployed tear gas, rubber bullets and sound grenades to disperse protesters.
One account described the situation as "a combination of sound and smoke."
OHCHR also received multiple witness accounts of a police armoured vehicle driving at a group of protesters, while officers were shooting at the crowd from the vehicle.
"The situation escalated in the early afternoon. Witnesses described police and RAB firing lethal ammunition from military rifles from different locations at protesters. Witnesses and images also confirm the police shooting from the rooftop of Uttara Police Station," the UN fact-finding report reads.
Hundreds of protesters suffered gunshot wounds and several were shot dead.
One nearby hospital recorded 91 injured patients and six deaths on that day, out of which five were students.
Medical and ballistics information analysed by OHCHR confirmed that victims were shot with lethal ammunition commonly used by the police and RAB.
"Among those killed was Mir Mughdo, a 25-year-old student who had been distributing water to the protesters. He was shot in the head with lethal ammunition from a rifle towards the end of the afternoon," the report says.
A video authenticated by OHCHR captured the time and location that Mir Mughdo was shot as approximately 17:50 (05:50pm) on Rabindra Sarani Street.
In the same area around the same time, a protest leader was shot in the head.
He survived but suffered severe long-term injuries.
He was first hit by a sound grenade, then a metal pellet hit the back of his head and then two rifle bullets hit him in the face.
He was hit in the eyebrow by one bullet, while a second bullet entered next to his nose and exited on the side of his head, according to the report.
The injuries resulted in 95 percent hearing loss in his right ear and a depressed fracture of the right occipital bone.
He has irreversible nerve damage.
The OHCHR mentioned that it collected several other firsthand testimonies of students who sustained injuries to their eyes, abdomen, back and limbs.
One student was shot twice, suffering 42 metal pellet injuries in his upper leg.
One pellet penetrated deeper into the skin tissue and was still inside his leg when he spoke to OHCHR about his ordeal.
Forensic review of these victims' medical records confirmed that the wounds and scars sustained were caused by No 8 metal pellets fired from a shotgun.
Another student was shot with metal pellets near Uttara East Police Station by a police officer.
"I thought he had shot me in my head, and that's why I could not see. I didn't imagine he shot me in my eye," the victim recounted.
The report shows the injury damaged his retina, lens and cornea.
A third student was shot twice with lethal ammunition near the police station at around 17:30 (05:30pm).
The first shot injured his right arm, and the second struck his abdomen.
He described difficulty breathing and his fear of not returning home.
Medical records and photos reviewed by OHCHR's forensic physician indicate that the arm injury was caused by a bullet from a high-powered rifle, according the UN report.
END/MSS/AJ
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