In at least seven instances, two separate murder cases have been filed over the death of one July uprising victim, with conflicting information, and different accused and witnesses.

The families of some of the victims are unaware of the identities of the people who filed the additional First Information Reports (FIRs).

Besides concerns over potential misuse of the legal system to harass people for personal benefits, these cases will call the credibility of investigations into question, an expert has warned.

Police said they were aware of such cases and a set of instructions for these cases would be issued upon consultation with legal experts.

One of these cases was filed over the death of Monir Hossain, 28, who was shot in the Bashtala area of Dhaka's Bhatara on July 19 last year during the quota reform protests, which later intensified into a mass uprising.

After the fall of the Awami League government, Monir's brother Parvej Forazy filed a murder case with a Dhaka court on September 29, accusing ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 25 others. The court directed Bhatara Police Station to register it as an FIR.

However, on October 24, Fahad Badsha, claiming to be Monir's cousin, filed another murder case with the court against 218 people, including Hasina. The court again directed Bhatara police to register the FIR.

FIR details show that both cases contained contradictory descriptions and listed different individuals as witnesses.

A group of people is trying to misuse the July uprising spirit for personal and political vengeance, which needs to be stopped through proper verification and investigation.

— Tawohidul Haque, associate professor, DU

Parvej told The Daily Star, "We don't know anyone named Fahad Badsha. I have no cousin by that name."

He added that while he filed a case for justice, others might be filing cases for ulterior motives like harassing people or gaining personal benefits.

The Daily Star contacted Fahad over the phone, but he said he could not talk since he was travelling. He also said he would call back but he did not.

Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 14, died on August 6 last year, a day after he was shot near Shanir Akhra Bridge. On September 5, his neighbour, Julhas Sheikh, filed a murder case against 94 people, including Hasina, with Demra Police Station.

Five days later, a 34-year-old person named Rabiul Awal filed another case against 37 people with Jatrabari Police Station over Mahmudul's killing.

The descriptions of the incident varied in the cases. While Julhas claimed Mahmudul was shot at Bashpatti, Rabiul mentioned Shanir Akhra as the scene.

On August 4 last year, BNP activist Riazul Talukder, 39, was shot near Jatrabari intersection and he later died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

His younger brother Rubel Talukder filed a murder case on September 10 against 135 people, including Hasina, with Jatrabari Police Station.

On October 2, a man named Billal Hossain claiming to be Riazul's business partner filed another case with the court against 52 people, including Hasina, over Riazul's death. Shahbagh police registered it as an FIR on October 26.

In the case statement, he said Riazul got shot in the Topkhana Road area.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Billal said he filed the case because Riazul was his uncle's son.

However, Riazul's brother Rubel told this newspaper, "We have no cousin named Billal. I do not know for what purpose he filed another case with a different description."

Fatema-Tuz-Zahura filed a case on September 11 last year against Hasina and 14 others over the killing of her son Abdullah Bin Zahid, a student of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College, on August 5.

Earlier, on August 23, another murder case was filed with a court, accusing 33 individuals, including Hasina, by a person named Mohammad Zakiullah Bahar, over Abdullah's death. The court directed the Airport Police Station to register the FIR.

The two cases named different witnesses.

Fatema's brother Aritul Islam told The Daily Star, "We know nothing about Bahar. We only learned about his case when we visited the police station."

Attempts to contact Bahar were unsuccessful as his phone number mentioned in the FIR was found unreachable.

Md Tareq Jubayer, deputy commissioner (prosecution) at Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star yesterday, "We have noticed a couple of cases mentioning different places as the scene of occurrence. For such cases, we are preparing instructions, after discussing with legal experts as per existing laws and regulations, for the course of action, and it is under process."

A top police officer, citing section 248 of the Police Regulations, Bengal, 1943, said, "If a duplicate case is filed over a single incident, the investigation officers [IOs] will verify the place of occurrence and the accused..."

Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqi, however, said they did not notice such cases. "If found, the prosecution will take appropriate action."

He suggested forming a monitoring cell to track multiple murder cases filed for the same victim.

MISUSE OF LEGAL SYSTEM

Tawohidul Haque, associate professor at Dhaka University's Institute of Social Welfare and Research, told The Daily Star, "The filing of multiple, contradictory cases for single victims with different police stations raises concerns about the potential misuse of the legal system, casting doubts on the credibility of such legal actions.

"A group of people is trying to misuse the July uprising spirit for personal and political vengeance, which needs to be stopped through proper verification and investigation."

The home ministry on October 14 last year issued a warning, stating that legal action would be taken against individuals who filed false cases or cases intended to harass people.

In an official notice, the ministry highlighted the growing trend of false cases, including murder charges, being used for extortion, blackmail, and harassment.

Tawohidul said the government's warning had no impact.

"The authority should scrutinise the cases before registering so that deceivers do not get any scope to misuse the law. Or else, the old practice of harassment with ghost cases will resurface," he said.

Al-Shahriar Hossain Rokon, 23, and Mohammad Ismail, a 46-year-old rickshaw puller, were killed by gunfire in Mohammadpur and West Rampura respectively on July 19.

A Jubo Dal leader, Robiul Khan Hillol, 31, filed a murder case on August 22 with Mohammadpur Police Station over Rokon's death, claiming that Rokon's father Monir Hossain refused to file any case.

A week later, Monir filed another murder case over Rokon's death.  Monir told The Daily Star he could not file the case earlier due to illness.

"Hillol did not say anything about filing the case. I did not even know him before filing the case," he said.

Rickshawpuller Ismail's wife Lucky Begum said a man named Sabbir Hossain obtained documents from her, claiming to be a journalist.

Three months after Lucky filed a case over her husband's killing, Sabbir filed another. Efforts to reach Sabbir were unsuccessful, as the number mentioned on the FIR was found switched off.

DU Associate Professor Tawohidul said, "The police or the state, not the neighbours or well-wishers, should take action if any victim's family fails to file a case."