killing of RAB, Coast Guard officers
HC delivers split verdict
A High Court (HC) bench has delivered a split verdict in connection with the killings of three officials of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Coast Guard way back in 2006. In 2014, a trial court had awarded the death penalty to six persons and sentenced seven others to life imprisonment for killing the three officialsone of the RAB and two of the Coast Guardduring a raid on the Poshur river in Bagherhat district. Yesterday, however, the senior judge of the HC bench, Justice Nizamul Haque, acquitted all the convicted, while the junior judge, Justice Md Faruk, sentenced all to life imprisonment. Following the split verdict, the matter has been forwarded to the Chief Justice for his decision. The Chief Justice has formed a single-member bench for final disposal of the matter, lawyers concerned with the case said. Advocate Prabir Halder appeared for the appellants while deputy attorney general Md Moniruzzaman represented the state. According to the case statement, a joint team of the RAB and the Bangladesh Coast Guard had launched an operation, acting on a tip, to nab a gang of dacoits on December 1, 2006. The raid triggered a fierce fight between the law enforcers and the dacoits on the Poshur near the Sundarbans. At one stage, the dacoits jumped into the river after throwing two coastguards, MH Kabir and MA Islam, and RAB member PC Kanchon, into the water. The bodies of the three law enforcers were fished out from the river a day after the incident.
