The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has intensified its investigation into the May 5-6, 2013 crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam supporters at Dhaka’s Shapla Chattar, formally seeking broadcast footage and related records from Ekattor TV as part of an inquiry into alleged crimes against humanity.
In a letter issued on June 8 and made public on Wednesday, the ICT investigation agency requested copies of video footage aired by the television channel, its government-issued broadcasting licence and other documents considered relevant to the investigation.
The request is part of an ongoing probe being conducted under ICT BD Miscellaneous Case No 15 of 2025, which is examining allegations surrounding the operation carried out at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel during a Hefazat-e-Islam program on the night of May 5 and early hours of May 6, 2013.
According to the letter, the investigation is being led by Investigating Officer Md Iftekharul Alam under Section 3(2) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, which deals with offences including crimes against humanity.
The letter, signed by Mohammad Shahidullah Chowdhury, coordinator of the ICT investigation agency, said investigators are collecting documentary evidence, video records and other materials to establish the facts surrounding the events.
The agency expressed hope that Ekattor TV would provide full cooperation, describing the investigation as a matter of national importance.
The latest move signals a widening effort by the tribunal to gather contemporaneous evidence from media organisations that covered the operation more than a decade ago.
Investigators are seeking to reconstruct the sequence of events through archived video footage, photographs and other records as they examine allegations linked to the operation that dispersed thousands of Hefazat activists gathered in the capital.
The Shapla Chattar operation remains one of the most disputed political events of the past decade, with competing claims over the number of casualties and the circumstances surrounding the clearance drive.
Successive demands for an independent judicial inquiry have kept the issue alive in public discourse, while recent complaints submitted to the ICT have given new momentum to efforts aimed at establishing accountability.
Sources involved in the investigation said media footage is being considered a key evidentiary component as investigators seek to verify claims and reconstruct events from multiple sources.
The request to Ekattor TV comes amid broader efforts by the tribunal to collect and preserve documentary evidence relating to the operation, signalling that the long-debated Shapla Chattar incident has entered a new phase of formal investigation.
