Verdict today
A Dhaka court is set to deliver the verdict in the sensational Ramna Batamul carnage case today, bringing an end to the 13-year wait after the gruesome bomb attack that took 10 lives.
Judge Ruhul Amin of the Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court will decide the fate of 14 leaders and activists of the banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji), including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan.
The court was scheduled to pronounce the judgement on June 16, but it reset the date for today, as the judge could not complete writing the judgement.
On completion of arguments from the prosecution and the defence on May 28, the judge fixed June 16 for declaring the verdict in the long-drawn killing case.
During the traditional celebrations of the Bangla New Year, 1408 (April 14, 2001) at the Ramna Batamul, several blasts killed 10 people and injured around 50 others. Leading cultural platform Chhayanaut organises the event every year.
Later, two cases -- one for the killing and the other under the explosive substances act -- were filed with Ramna Police Station in this connection.
It took the investigators over seven years to trace Huji links with the attack. On November 30, 2008, the Criminal Investigation Department pressed charges against the 14 leaders and activists of the banned militant outfit in both the cases.
The accused are Mufti Abdul Hannan, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Maulana Yahiya, Mufti Abdul Hye, Maulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Maulana Abu Bakar alias Selim Hawlader, Maulana Mohammad Tajuddin, Maulana Abdul Hannan Sabbir, Arif Hasan Suman, Maulana Akbar Hossain alias Helaluddin, Maulana Abu Taher, Maulana Abdur Rouf, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar and Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel.
Of them, Hannan, Suman, Jewel, Abu Taher, Sheikh Farid, Sabbir, Rouf, Yahiya and Akbar are behind bars, while the others, including Tajuddin, younger brother of BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, are still at large.
However, the case filed under the explosive substances act is stuck now at trial level.
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