DHAKA: The High Court has upheld the death penalty of 15 convicts, while commuted the death sentence of 11 others to life term imprisonment in the much-talked-about sensational Narayanganj seven-murder cases.

The HC bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam on Tuesday (August 22) delivered the verdict in the death references and appeals in the two cases of the gruesome killings.

The death penalties sentences of the prime four accused-- former Councilor of Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) and ruling Awami League leader Nur Hossain, former commander of RAB-11 Lieutenant Col (sacked) Tarique Sayeed Muhammad, Major (sacked) Arif Hossain, Lieutenant commander (sacked) Masud Rana-- were upheld in the higher court.   

The other condemned convicts, which death penalties were upheld, are-- sacked Havildar of RAB Md. Emdadul Haque, Lans Nayek Hira Miah, ROG-1 ABM Arif Hossain, Lans Nayek Belal Hossain, Sipahi Abu Toiyob Ali, constable Shihab Uddin, sub-inspector Purnendu Bala, soldier Abdul Alim, soldier Mohinuddin Munshi, soldier Al Amin Sharif and soldier Tajul Islam.

Among them, Mohinuddin Munshi, Al Amin Sharif and Tajul Islam are still on the run.

On the other hand, the 11 lifers, whose death sentences were commuted, are-- sacked RAB Sipahi Asaduzzaman Noor and sergeant Enamul Kabir, Nur Hossain’s accomplices Mortuza Zaman Churchill, Ali Mohammad, Mizanur Rahman Dipu, Jamal Uddin Sarder, Abul Bashar, Raham Ali, Selim, Sanaullah Sana and Shahjahan,

Among them, Selim, Sanaullah Sana and Shahjahan are in absconding.

Earlier on August 13, the HC bench was set to deliver the verdict on death references and appeals in the seven-murder cases. But the court deferred the date to August 22.

On July 26, the hearing on death references and appeals came to an end and the High Court announced the verdict delivery date.

On January 16, a Narayanganj court handed over death sentences to 26 accused including prime accused Nur Hossain and three suspended RAB high officials in the two cases.

Of the total 35 accused, nine were awarded jail terms in separate time-limits in the cases in the lower court. Of the 26 death-row convicts, 20 have filed regular and jail appeals.

Among the 35 convicts, separate time-limits imprisonment of the nine others, who are sacked officials and members of the RAB, were upheld in the High Court.

Constable Habibur Rahman Habib was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment, while SI Abul Kalam Azad, ASI Kamal Hossain, Constable Babul Hasan, Corporal Mukhlesur Rahman and Lans Corporal Ruhul Amin were sentenced to ten years’ of imprisonment, and ASI Bazlur Rahman, Havilder Nasir Uddin and soldier Nuruzzaman were sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.  

On April 27 in 2014, the seven men, including NCC councilor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar, were abducted from the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road.

Three days after the abduction, the bodies of six, including Nazrul and Chandan, were found floating in the Shitalakhya River. The following day, the body of Nazrul’s car driver Jahangir was recovered from the river.

Later, relatives of Nazrul Islam and Chandan Sarkar filed two separate cases over the incident.

BDST: 1715 HRS, AUG 22, 2017
EHJ/SMS