Law enforcement agencies have registered 1,855 cases across Bangladesh in connection with killings, enforced disappearances and torture committed under the government ousted by the July mass uprising, Law Minister Asaduzzaman told the Parliament on Thursday.

Of the total, 799 are murder cases and 1,056 have been filed under other penal provisions, the minister said in response to a question from a Bangladesh Jammat-e-Islami MP during question-and-answer proceedings chaired by the deputy speaker.

Charge sheets have been submitted in 158 cases (48 murder and 110 others) while investigations continue in the remaining 1,697, Asaduzzaman said. “The investigation of this large volume of cases is a complex and time-consuming process, but the police are working to submit reports at the earliest,” he added, stressing that evidence was being collected and legal procedures followed rigorously to prevent any weakness during trial.

On the question of bail, the minister said the matter fell strictly within the court’s jurisdiction but that state prosecutors were actively opposing bail for the accused in each case.

“The government is committed to delivering justice to the victims of the brutal crimes perpetrated during the fascist regime and to their families,” the law minister said. “The government is pressing ahead without let-up to ensure those who killed, disappeared, tortured and maimed innocent people be brought under the law and punished.”