Judge Monowara Begum of the Second Special Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression handed down the verdict in presence of one of the convicts Moslem Uddin. Two of them, Abdul Latif and Aminul Haq, were tried in absentia.

The punishment of the fugitives will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender, the court said.

Earlier, the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments and the court recorded statements of 15 prosecution witnesses.

In the case filed with Demra Police Station, Ali Miah alleged that his nephew Roni, 5, and niece Soni, 6, were abducted by a group of abductors from his residence at Dhania in the city's Demra area at about 12:30pm on September 17, 1998. Later, the complainant along with his family members went to the residence of Abdul Latif and came to know that the victims were taken to a hotel at Kamalapur for trafficking them abroad.

Demra police along with complainant Ali Miah and Abdul Latif went to Kamalapur and rescued the victims from the hotel Gangchil and arrested Moslem and Aminul Haq the same day.

The investigation officer (IO) pressed charges against the accused on September 17, 1999 and the court framed charges against them on January 14, 2001.

Special Public Prosecutor Arfan udddin Khan appeared for the state while advocates Abdul Jabber and Mizanur Rahman defended the accused.