The paper books of the Narayanganj seven-murder case have reached the High Court (HC) for hearing on the death reference and appeals relating to the case. Copies of the two paper books containing around 6,000 pages reached the court yesterday morning from the Bangladesh Government (BG) Press, Sabbir Faiz, additional registrar of the HC, told The Independent.
The paper books have been prepared on a priority basis in accordance with instructions issued by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha so that the death reference and appeals relating to the case can be settled quickly, he said.
On completion of the relevant procedure, the documents will be placed before the Chief Justice next week. The Chief Justice is likely to assign an HC bench for hearing of the death reference and appeals very soon, he added.
A paper book contains all the details of a case, trial proceedings, statements, evidence, verdicts and other documents.
Lower Courts often award the death sentence to an accused for committing grave offences. As the death sentence puts an end to the life of a condemned prisoner, the lower court’s judgment is examined by the HC. A paper book on the lower court verdict is sent to the HC for scrutiny, which is known as a death reference.
The HC disposes of a death reference after examining whether a condemned prisoner deserves capital punishment or not.
If a condemned prisoner deserves the death penalty, the HC upholds the lower court’s verdict. When the HC confirms the death sentence of an accused or acquits him/her, the aggrieved side
may file an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the verdict.
On January 16, the court of Narayanganj district sessions judge Syed Enayet Hossain sentenced 26 people, including former Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) councillor Nur Hossain and dismissed RAB officials Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj. Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana, to death in the seven-murder case. Twenty-three of the toal accused in the case, including Nur Hossain and the dismissed RAB officials, were present during the declaration of the verdict, while 12 are still on the run.
The other condemned convicts are: Mizanur Rahman Dipu, Abdul Alim, Mohinuddin Munshi, Lans Nayek Hira Miah, Sipahi Abu Toiyob, Selim, Sanaullah Sana, Shah Jahan, Jamal Uddin, Asad-uj-jaman Noor, Purnendu Bala, ROG Arif Hossain, Al Amin, Tajul Islam, Enamul, Belal Hossain, Shihab Uddin, Mortuja Jaman Churchill, Ali Mohammad, Abul Basher, Raham Ali and Emdadul Haque.
The Narayanganj court also gave seven to 17 years’ impriosonment to nine others accused in the case. On APril 17, 2014, seven people, including NCC panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, were abducted from Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road. Later, their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya river.
A total of 35 people, including the main accused Nur Hossain, were indicted in the two cases filed over the incident—one filed by Nazrul’s family and the other by Chandan’s family. Of them, 26  were RAB personnel and eight others were reportedly associates of Nur Hossain. After the investigation, which took almost a year, police pressed charges against Nur Hossain, three senior officers of the Narayanganj-based RAB battalion and 31 others.