Nganj 7-murder case verdict today
Victims families want maximum punishment of killers
Staff Reporter
The verdict in the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder case will be delivered today. Narayanganj district and sessions judge Syed Enayet Hossain will pronounce the verdict when the court completes the hearing. Two cases have been tried simultaneously by the Narayanganj court.
On 27 April 2014, Narayanganj City Corporation councillor Nazrul Islam, also a local Awami League (AL) leader, was abducted from Narayanganj along with his driver and three aides, allegedly by a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-11 team. The RAB team also kidnapped senior lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver Ibrahim, who witnessed the abduction of Nazrul and his associates. After three days, all seven bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya river. Two cases were filed in this connectionone by Nazruls family and the other by Chandan Sarkers family. Later, RAB officials Lt. Col. Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj. Arif Hossain, and Lt Cdr SM Masud Rana were sacked for their alleged involvement in the abductions and killings.
Tareque Mohammed, a former Lieutenant Colonel of the Bangladesh Army, is the son-in-law of minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya. He was the chief of RAB 11 at the time of the murders.
All three former RAB officials have given confessional statements before the court. On 8 February last year, 35 people were indicted in the crimes, including prime accused Nur Hossain, who is also a local AL leader, and the three sacked RAB officials. Of the accused, 12 people are still absconding.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday hoped that those who were involved in the sensational seven-murder in Narayanganj would get exemplary punishment.
The chief law officer of the state expressed the hopes while
replying to a question of journalists at his office in the Supreme Court.
I agree with what the countrymen expect over the sensational seven-murder case in Narayanganj. I demand exemplary punishment for those involved in the sensational seven-murder case, Alam said.
Terming the Narayanganj seven-murder as a planned murder, Alam said, The main job of those involved in the sensational seven-murder is to protect the property of people and safeguard the freedom of people. If those are found guilty of the murder, their crimes will be unforgivable crimes, he noted. Selina Islam Beauty, the widow of the murdered councillor, said she hoped for an exemplary verdict. She said: If the court gives an exemplary punishment, no one will dare commit such heinous killings again. No other wife will lose her husband, no children will lose their father, and no mother will lose her son, she said, weeping.
She also asked for the speedy arrests of the killers, some of whom are still at large.
After the murder, the family and relatives of the deceased NCC councillor Nazrul claimed that Nur Hossain, another councillor, had paid Tk. 6 crore to senior officers of the local RAB unit to carry out the murders.
Selina Islam Beauty said that her family has been threatened many times over the cases. We have received death threats, she said, adding that they still do not feel safe. Bijoy Sarker, son-in-law of the murdered lawyer Chandan Sarker, said: We have lost our loved ones. All the murderers should be punished. Let those involved in these murders be given maximum punishment. My father-in-law was widely known as a very upstanding citizen. As far as we know, he tried to stop the incident unfolding in front of him. He was killed for doing so, he added. I hope the court will set an example so that no one would ever think of committing such murders again, said Bijoy Sarker.
Nur Hossain had fled immediately after the killings, but was detained in Kolkata, India, and brought back to Bangladesh 17 months later.
