Cricketer Shakib named in murder case along with Bangla’s ousted PM Hasina

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 Aug.22 by Rubel's father, Rafiqul Islam, which names 154 local Awami League leaders and activists accused of his son’s demise on Aug.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.

Prior to that, Shakib was in the US to take part in Major League Cricket until mid-July before flying to Canada where he played from July 26 to August 9.

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.

Shakib is considered one of his country’s greatest sportsmen, with 4,505 runs in 67 Test matches. As a spin bowler, he holds the record for most Test wickets in Bangladesh’s history with 237.

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.

Faruque was named BCB chief on Wednesday after the resignation of Nazmul Hassan, a close ally of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Nazmul had been BCB president since 2012, serving multiple terms, with his last tenure scheduled to end in 2025.

New president Faruque briefly captained Bangladesh in the 1994 ICC Trophy in Kenya and played seven one-day internationals.

He retired from the national team after the World Cup in 1999. He also held the position of national chief selector between 2005 and 2014.

Agencies