N’ganj 7-murder

HC defers appeal verdict

The High Court (HC) yesterday deferred till August 22 its verdict on the death references and appeals in the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder case. Initially, an HC bench comprising Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam was scheduled to deliver the verdict on Sunday. It was also scheduled to give its verdict in the appeals filed by 26 death-row convicts in the sensational murder case. The HC bench did not disclose the reason for the deferment of the judgment. But one of the defence counsels, Advocate Munsurul Hoque Chowdhury, told reporters that the HC bench rescheduled the date as it was not yet ready for the deliberation. Among the death-row convicts, 21 have been taken into custody so far. They include local Awami League leader Noor Hossain, then Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) commanding officer in Narayanganj Lt Colonel Tareque Sayeed Mohammad and RAB officers Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander Masud Rana.

After hearing arguments from state and defence counsels on 33 dates, the HC bench had on July 26 fixed August 13 for announcing the judgment.

If a lower court sentences a person to death, the judgment is examined by the HC by hearing arguments for confirming the sentence. During the hearing on the death references and appeals in the Narayanganj seven-murder case, attorney general Mahbubey Alam prayed to the HC to uphold the trial court’s verdict, in which 26 people, including 16 former RAB members, were sentenced to death and nine others jailed.

Advocate Munsurul Hoque Chowdhury, Advocate SM Shahjahan, Advocate SM Abdul Mobin and Advocate Ahsan Ullah appeared for the accused. Citing different grounds, they prayed for acquittal of their clients. Earlier, on January 16, the Narayanganj district and sessions judge court had handed death sentence to 26 offenders, including 16 RAB members, and various jail terms to nine other RAB men, finding them guilty of murdering local AL leader and Narayanganj City Corporation ward councilor Nazrul Islam, lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar and five others. The trial court had also found them guilty of hatching the conspiracy to abduct, murder and dumping the bodies of the seven victims in the Sitalakkhya river to destroy the evidence of their crimes.

According to the trial court verdict, Nazrul and his four associates were abducted by two RAB teams, one led by Major Arif and the other by Commander Rana from near the Narayanganj court premises around 1:40pm on April 27, 2014. Later, the RAB men abducted Chandan Kumar Sarkar and his driver as he had protested against “the arrest of Nazrul and his associates”. All the documents of the case had been sent to the HC on January 22. It received the appeals of the convicts on February 8. After that, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha ordered the department concerned of the HC Division to prepare the paper book of the case on a priority basis.

A total 35 people, including prime accused Nur Hossain and three sacked RAB officials, were indicted on February 8, 2016, in the killing case.

Nganj 7-murder

HC defers appeal verdict

The High Court (HC) yesterday deferred till August 22 its verdict on the death references and appeals in the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder case. Initially, an HC bench comprising Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam was scheduled to deliver the verdict on Sunday. It was also scheduled to give its verdict in the appeals filed by 26 death-row convicts in the sensational murder case. The HC bench did not disclose the reason for the deferment of the judgment. But one of the defence counsels, Advocate Munsurul Hoque Chowdhury, told reporters that the HC bench rescheduled the date as it was not yet ready for the deliberation. Among the death-row convicts, 21 have been taken into custody so far. They include local Awami League leader Noor Hossain, then Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) commanding officer in Narayanganj Lt Colonel Tareque Sayeed Mohammad and RAB officers Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander Masud Rana. After hearing arguments from state and defence counsels on 33 dates, the HC bench had on July 26 fixed August 13 for announcing the judgment. If a lower court sentences a person to death, the judgment is examined by the HC by hearing arguments for confirming the sentence. During the hearing on the death references and appeals in the Narayanganj seven-murder case, attorney general Mahbubey Alam prayed to the HC to uphold the trial courts verdict, in which 26 people, including 16 former RAB members, were sentenced to death and nine others jailed. Advocate Munsurul Hoque Chowdhury, Advocate SM Shahjahan, Advocate SM Abdul Mobin and Advocate Ahsan Ullah appeared for the accused. Citing different grounds, they prayed for acquittal of their clients. Earlier, on January 16, the Narayanganj district and sessions judge court had handed death sentence to 26 offenders, including 16 RAB members, and various jail terms to nine other RAB men, finding them guilty of murdering local AL leader and Narayanganj City Corporation ward councilor Nazrul Islam, lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar and five others. The trial court had also found them guilty of hatching the conspiracy to abduct, murder and dumping the bodies of the seven victims in the Sitalakkhya river to destroy the evidence of their crimes. According to the trial court verdict, Nazrul and his four associates were abducted by two RAB teams, one led by Major Arif and the other by Commander Rana from near the Narayanganj court premises around 1:40pm on April 27, 2014. Later, the RAB men abducted Chandan Kumar Sarkar and his driver as he had protested against the arrest of Nazrul and his associates. All the documents of the case had been sent to the HC on January 22. It received the appeals of the convicts on February 8. After that, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha ordered the department concerned of the HC Division to prepare the paper book of the case on a priority basis. A total 35 people, including prime accused Nur Hossain and three sacked RAB officials, were indicted on February 8, 2016, in the killing case.