N’ganj 7-murder verdict’s full text likely next week
The High Court may release the full text of its verdict on Narayanganj 7-murder, where it upheld the death penalty of 15 persons for abducting and killing seven people back in 2014, next week.
Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam, who delivered the judgement in August last year after holding hearing on the death reference and appeals in the case, have already prepared the 670-page full text of the verdict.
The judges will sign the full verdict within few days and then it will be released, a source in the court told The Daily Star today.
Once the full judgment is released, the grounds and observations on which the court had delivered the judgment will be known.
On August 22 last year, the HC upheld the death penalty of 15 convicted persons, including three former top Rab officials and expelled Awami League leader Nur Hossain, for their involvement in conspiracy, abduction and killing of seven Narayanganj men in 2014.
The bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad and Justice Mustafa Zaman, however, commuted the capital punishment of 11 others to life imprisonment -- all of whom were sentenced to death by a Narayanganj Court in the sensational seven-murder case.
The judges also upheld the jail terms of nine others for various terms ranging from seven to 17 years.
Except for Nur Hossain, sacked vice-president of Siddhirganj AL and also Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) councillor, all the 14 other condemned persons are ex-Rab members.
They include the then Rab-11 commanding officer in Narayanganj Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, and the then Rab-11 company commanders Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander Masud Rana.
Seven people, including Narayanganj City Corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, were abducted from the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road on April 27, 2014.
Later, their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya river.
On January 16 last year, Narayanganj District and Sessions Judge's Court found 35 people, including Nur Hossain and 25 ex-Rab officials, guilty of abduction and murder of the seven people and also destroying evidence.
Later, 28 of the convicts filed appeals with the HC challenging the trial court verdict on them in the case.