SC upholds HC verdict in Khalaf murder case

Staff Correspondent: The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld a High Court (HC) verdict that awarded one with death sentence and three to life term imprisonment in the sensational Saudi embassy official Khalaf Al Ali murder case.

The death-row convict is Saiful Islam while the life-term convicts are Mohammad Al-Amin, Akbar Ali Lalu and Rafiqul Islam.

A three-member Appellate Division bench headed by the Acting Chief Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah passed the order on Wednesday.

Though the court earlier fixed October 10 to give its verdict in the case, death-row convict Saiful filed a petition seeking time to appoint lawyer for him.

Accepting the time petition, the court later fixed dates for rehearing in the case.

On November 18, 2013, the High Court, in a major revision to a trial court verdict, acquitted one of the five condemned convicts, awarded life term to three others and upheld the death sentence of one in the case.

The acquitted, Selim Chowdhury, is on the run while the rest four are behind bars.

The HC upheld the death sentence of Saiful Islam for killing the 45-year-old Saudi embassy official, who was shot dead near his Gulshan residence in the capital's diplomatic enclave.

Khali Al Ali, Saudi embassy official in Dhaka, was shot dead some 30 yards off his house in the city's Gulshan area on March 06, 2012.

risingbd/Dhaka/November 1, 2017/Mehadi/A K Azad