A special Rangpur tribunal yesterday indicted seven alleged operatives of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB) for murdering Japanese national Kunio Hoshi on October 3 last year., BSS reports. "The tribunal indicted the seven accused . . . five of them were brought on the dock while the other two are on the run" to be tried in absentia, Special Public Prosecutor Advocate Rothish Chandra Bhowmick said. He added that police investigations found eight alleged JMB activists involved in the murder of the Japanese national but they gave the charge sheet against seven as the eighth presumed militant was killed earlier in an encounter with law enforcement agencies. "Judge Naresh Chandra Sarker set January 4 as the next date of hearing to examine witnesses after framing the charges," the prosecutor said. Motorbike-mounting masked assailants gunned down 66-year-old Hoshi Kunio at Katchu Alutari village under Kawnia upazila on the outskirts of the city on October 3 last year, sparking a massive uproar. Kawnia police station filed a murder case on July 3, 2015 and subsequently submitted charge sheet against Masud Rana alias Mamun, Esahak Ali, Nazrul Islam alias Bike Hasan, Litan Mian, Abu Sayeed, Shakhawat Hossain, Ahsan Ullah Ansari and Saddam Hossain after investigation. The five who were present on the dock during the inductment hearing were Masud Rana alias Mamun, Esahak Ali, Litan Mian, Abu Sayeed and Shakhawat Hossain. They all were brought to the court under tight security vigil from the Rangpur jail. Police said a massive manhunt was underway to track down the two fugitives Ahsan Ullah Ansari and Saddam Hossain to be exposed to trial while the rest of the accused Nazrul Islam alias Bike Hasan was killed in an encounter with police at Rajshahi on August 2 last.