7-murder: HC bench for hearing death references assigned

Staff Correspondent: Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha assigned a High Court (HC) bench for hearing the death references and appeals of the convicts in sensational Narayanganj seven-murder cases on priority basis.

The HC bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad Singh and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam will now fix a date for hearing the death references and appeals of the two cases.

Sabbir Foyez, additional registrar (law and admin) of the High Court Division of the SC, confirmed the matter on Wednesday.

Another HC bench comprising Justice Zahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Mohammad Zahangir Hossain yesterday directed the government to appoint a state defence counsel for five fugitive death row convicts of the cases.

Earlier on February 8 this year, the HC ordered regular and jail appeal hearing for the death row convicts of the sensational seven-murder in Narayanganj.

On January 30 and 31, the death row convicts including former NCC councillor Nur Hossain and dismissed RAB officials Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad appealed to the HC seeking acquittal.

The death reference and appeals in the case were brought to the HC from Narayanganj District and Sessions Judge's Court on January 22.

The paper books of the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder case have already been prepared for the High Court’s early hearing on the death reference and appeals in the case.

Copies of the two paper books containing around 6,000 pages reached the Supreme Court (SC) from Bangladesh Government (BG) Press.

Court sources said the paper books have been prepared on priority basis as per instruction from the Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha so that the death reference and appeals of the case are settled quickly.

A court in Narayanganj on January 16 sentenced 26 people including former NCC councillor Nur Hossain and dismissed RAB officials Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana to death in the sensational seven-murder case.

The court of Narayanganj District Sessions Judge Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the verdict amid high security.

Twenty-three, including Nur Hossain and dismissed RAB officials were present on the dock during the pronunciation of the verdict while 12 are on the run.

The other condemned convicts are Mizanur Rahman Dipu, Abdul Alim, Mohinuddin Munshi, Lans Nayek Hira Miah, Sipahi Abu Toiyob, Selim, Sanaullah Sana, Shah Jahan, Jamal Uddin, Asad-uj-jaman Noor, Purnendu Bala, ROG Arif Hossain, Al Amin, Tajul Islam, Enamul, Belal Hossain, Shihab Uddin, Mortuja Jaman Churchill, Ali Mohammad, Abul Basher, Raham Ali, Emdadul Haque.

The court also jailed nine other accused for seven to 17 years’ of imprisonment.

Seven people, including Narayanganj City Corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, were abducted from the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road on April 27, 2014. Later, their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya.

A total of 35 people including the main accused Nur Hossain were indicted in the two cases filed over the incident-- one by Nazrul's family and the other by Chandan's family. Of them, 26 are Rab men while eight others are reportedly associates of Nur Hossain.

After the investigation which took almost a year, police pressed charges against Nur Hossain, three senior officers of the Narayanganj-based RAB battalion and 31 others.

risingbd/DHAKA/May 17, 2017/Mehedi/Amirul