A court in Joypurhat has ordered legal action against nine people in connection with the killing of Shafinur Islam Shafin in a “cross-over” incident while in RAB custody in 2016, which the family now claims was an encounter which led to the extrajudicial killing of Shafin.

Among the accused are the then Director General of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Benazir Ahmed, who retired as IGP, and the then Inspector General of Police Molla Nazrul Islam.

The directive comes as part of a case filed eight years after the incident, seeking justice for the death.

The case was filed on Sunday by Nazrul Islam, father of the deceased, of Chokmohan village in Sadar upazila of Joypurhat.

In total, the case involves 25 accused people, with the court initially focusing on the first nine named in the complaint. Principal District and Sessions Judge Mojibur Rahman ordered legal action against the nine, ordering the Superintendent of Police to report within 24 hours.

Besides Benazir and Nazrul, the others against whom the court ordered action include Major Hasan Arafat of Joypurhat RAB camp, Assistant Deputy Director (DAD) Dr Firoz Ali Khan, Sub-Inspector (SI) Enamul Haque, DAD Mahfuzar Rahman, SI Debashish Nandi of the station of Sadar police, RAB Naik Habibur Rahman and Constable Mehedi Hasan. All posts mentioned are from the time of the incident.

According to the details of the case, the incident started on September 26, 2016, when members of Joypurhat RAB camp arrested Shafinur at around 9:00 pm from Dhaka’s Uttara area.

About a month later, on the night of October 25 at around 9:30 pm, Shafin was shot and killed in an abandoned paddy field owned by Helal in Dadaura Nandigram, Joypurhat Sadar upazila.

Counsel for the applicant Adv Mahfuzur Rahman Helal informed the media that the court admitted the charges against the first nine accused and ordered SP Joypurhat to take legal action accordingly. The court mandated that the SP update him on the steps taken within 24 hours.

Speaking on phone, SP Muhammad Abdul Wahab confirmed that “legal action is being taken as per the court’s directive”.