Bangladesh indicts 25 ruling party members over student murder

Twenty-five members of Bangladesh's ruling politicalparty were indicted for beating a university student to death inDhaka over a social media post that sparked nationwide protest lastmonth, officials said on Monday.  A magistrate court issued the indictment order after investigatorspressed murder charges against the accused, prosecution lawyerHemayet Uddin Khan told reporters in Dhaka.Abrar Fahad, an electrical engineering student, was allegedly beatento death by the members of the Awami League party on the campus ofBangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) on October6.Fahad's body was found at a staircase hours after he was called in bya group of activists from the Awami League's student wing forquestioning over the social media post.He had posted criticism on Facebook of a water-sharing agreementwhich Bangladesh signed with neighbouring India. The deal was backedby the Awami League.Police arrested 21 suspects, who are students at the same university,and presented them to the court when the indictment order was passedon Monday.The court also issued arrest warrants for four others, who have beenon the run, before the murder trial is set to begin on December 3,Khan said.Thousands of BUET students took to the streets after the brutalmurder demanding that the authorities bring all the perpetrators tobook.Students in other universities, professionals and political activistsin different parts of the country joined the week-long protestcalling for swift justice in the case.