Full text of Mufti Hannan death verdict out

Staff Correspondent: The Supreme Court has published the full text of its verdict which upheld the death penalties for three Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji) militants, including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, for carrying out a grenade attack on then UK envoy in Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury in 2004.

The 65-page verdict written by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has been published on the website of Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Earlier on December 7 last year, a four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the Chief Justice, upheld the High Court verdict in the grenade attack case after dismissing the convicts' appeals.

The two other condemned operatives of the banned militant outfit are Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul and Delwar Hossain Ripon.

In 2004, former UK high commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury along with around 70 others was hurt and three were killed in the attack at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) in Sylhet.

On December 23, 2008, the Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced Mufti Hannan, Bipul and Ripon to death, and Ovi and Abu Zandal to life imprisonment for the grenade attack and the killings.

The High Court, on February 11 last year, upheld death of the trio and upheld the life imprisonment of Muhibullah alias Muhibur Rahman alias Ovi and Mufti Main Uddin alias Abu Zandal, also Huji members.

risingbd/DHAKA/18 Jan 2017/Mehedi/Augustin Sujan