No trial even 21 yrs after actor Sohel Chowdhury’s murder

Film star Sohel Chowdhury’s murder has seen no trial even 21 years after the incident.

The defendants appealed for the quashing of the case after the framing of charges.

This led to a still persisting legal tangle in the trial court.

Sources say Chowdhury’s mother Nurjahan Begum and his wife, actress Parveen Sultana Diti, used to take interest in the case until a certain point of time.

But Diti and Nurjahan Begum are no longer alive. Diti passed away on March 20, 2016.

Sohel Chowdhury was shot dead below Trumps Club at Abedin Tower in Banani on Dec 18, 1998.

His brother, Touhidul Islam Chowdhury, filed the murder case at Gulshan Police Station the same day.

There were allegations of film producer and businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai’s links with the crime.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch filed a chargesheet in court against nine persons, including Aziz Mohammad, on Jul 30, 1999.

The other accused are Trumps Club owners Afaqul Islam aka Bunti Islam and Ashish Chowdhury, top terrorist Sanjidul Islam Emon, Adnan Siddiqui, Tariq Sayeed Mamun, Selim Khan, Harun Ur Rashid alias Leather Liton and Farooq Abbasi.

Charges were framed on Oct 30, 2001 in Dhaka’s Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court-3.

The case was subsequently transferred to Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-2 in 2003 for quick disposal.

But Mamun, one of the accused, appealed to the High Court, seeking the quashing of the case. In response, the court issued a rule and stayed the proceedings in the trial court.

A recent look at the court documents revealed that the High Court rule had not been resolved in 16 years, leaving the trial stalled.

The complaint in the case was that Sohel Chowdhury and Aziz Mohammad had an altercation over a supposed female friend at the club a few months before the murder.

An agitated Chowdhury had apparently verbally abused Aziz Mohammad Bhai, possibly provoking an act of revenge that lead to the former’s killing.

Sohel Chowdhury had tried to enter the club with his friends around 1am on the day of his murder but had been stopped at the entrance.

He made a second attempt to enter a little later, but Emon, Mamun, Liton, Farooq and Adnan allegedly shot him.

Dhaka/Mamun Khan/AKA