A court here yesterday sentenced five people to death in a case over slaughtering three people, including a minor boy, in Laksam upazila of the district in 2007.

The condemned convicts - Abdur Rahman, 25, son of Abdul Kader of Shriang area in Laksam, Md Shahidullah Shahid, 27, son of Yakub Ali, Faruk Hossain, 30, son of Abdul Mannam, Md Rasel, 30, son of Md Selim and Md Swapan, 30, son of Mohammad Ullah. All of them are absconding.

According to the case statement, when local traders Uttam Debnath, 27, his brother Parikhkhit Debnath, 12, of Protappur village and Bachchu Mia, 35,of Jagatpur village were returning home from a market on January 6, 2007 a gang of robbers attacked them at Badirpukur area in the upazila. Being resisted, the robbers slaughtered the trio. They snatched Tk 1400 from them. Later, on January 7, Bachchu Mia's brother filed a case with Laksam Police Station.

HC acquits all eight convicts of Mitu murder case

Another report adds from Dhaka: The High Court on Tuesday acquitted all the eight accused who were convicted by a trial court on charges of killing Eden Mahila College student Sadia Nur Mita. A High Court bench of Justice Ruhul Quddus and Justice ASM Abdul Mobin passed the order after hearing the death reference and appeal petitions filed by the convicts.

Advocate Fazlul Haq Khan Farid and SM Shahzahan stood for the convicts while Deputy Attorney General Maniruzzaman Rubel represented the state.

Maniruzzaman said the HC acquitted all the eight convicts for lack of eyewitnesses. "We'll file an appeal petition challenging the HC order," he said.  The Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 Judge sentenced three people to death and five others to five years' imprisonment on March 13, 2013 over the killing of the college girl.

The three condemned convicts were Nipun, Mamun and Dagu while those who got five years in prison were Tushar Kazi, Jony, Sraboni and Sheikh Nazmul. Later, the death reference of the condemned convicts was sent to the High Court. Besides, all the convicts filed appeal petitions challenging the lower court verdict.

On August 30, 2010, Sadia Nur Mita, a student of Eden Mahila College and daughter of Liakat Hossain Mollah, went missing from her residence in Gopalganj and later, she was found dead at a pond adjacent to her house. Victim's father filed a case with Gopalganj Police Station in this regard. According to the first information report of the case, Mita had gone missing while sleeping with her sibling Antara and cousin Sraboni.