Staff Reporter
A UN report has revealed that Mir Mughdo was fatally shot in the head with lethal ammunition from a high-powered military rifle during the anti-discrimination student movement in Uttara on July 18, last year. The 25-year-old student was killed while distributing water to protesters on that day.
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 Wednesday.
The report highlights extrajudicial killings by police, RAB, and BGB in Uttara, citing testimonies from victims and witnesses who confirmed that security forces used excessive force against students and other demonstrators in various locations, including BNS Centre, Azampur, Uttara East Police Station, and Milestone College.
On the morning of July 18, police, reinforced by RAB, Armed Police Battalions, BGB, Ansar, and armed Awami League supporters, stationed themselves at BNS Centre in anticipation of a large-scale protest. Clashes began around 11:30 AM when law enforcement deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound grenades against the demonstrators.
One account described the scene as a chaotic mix of “sound and smoke.” The OHCHR also documented multiple witness accounts of a police armored vehicle driving toward a group of protesters while officers fired at the crowd from inside.
As the situation escalated in the afternoon, witnesses reported seeing police and RAB personnel firing live rounds from military rifles at protesters from various positions. Testimonies and images confirmed that officers were shooting from the rooftop of Uttara Police Station, according to the UN report.
Hundreds of protesters sustained gunshot wounds, and several were killed. A nearby hospital recorded 91 injured individuals and six deaths that day, including five students. Medical and ballistic analysis conducted by OHCHR confirmed that the victims were struck by live ammunition commonly used by police and RAB.
Among those killed was Mir Mughdo, who had been distributing water to protesters. He was shot in the head with live ammunition from a rifle in the late afternoon, the report showed. A video verified by OHCHR pinpointed the time and location of Mughdo’s shooting at approximately 5:50 PM on Rabindra Sarani Street. Around the same time and in the same area, a protest leader was also shot in the head. He survived but suffered severe long-term injuries.
The protest leader had first been struck by a sound grenade, followed by a metal pellet to the back of his head. Then, two rifle bullets hit his face—one struck his eyebrow, and the other entered near his nose and exited through the side of his head. These injuries resulted in 95 percent hearing loss in his right ear, a depressed fracture of the right occipital bone, and irreversible nerve damage.
The OHCHR gathered multiple firsthand testimonies from students who sustained severe injuries to their eyes, abdomen, back, and limbs. One student was shot twice, suffering 42 metal pellet wounds in his upper leg, with one pellet embedding deeply into his tissue and still present when he spoke to OHCHR. A forensic review of medical records confirmed that these wounds 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.
