Rabbani killing: 4 accused asked to surrender

The High Court has directed four accused of a case, filed for killing Commodore (Rtd) Ghulam Rabbani, to surrender to the trial court in eight weeks.

Rabbani, a former managing director of Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) and a former aide-de-camp (ADC) of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was shot in the throat by a group of criminals at Muradpur in Chittagong on his way to the KEPZ on April 11, 2004.

Thirteen days later, Rabbani, who also had been a vital prosecution witness in both the Bangabandhu murder and the jail killing cases, succumbed to his injuries at Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok. 

Rabbani was killed following a conflict between him and a few of his colleagues at the KEPZ over his appointment as its MD, and termination of two employees of the KEPZ before and after his appointment.

The four accused, who have been ordered to surrender to the trial court, are the former general manager of the KEPZ Abu Naser Chowdhury and former chief security officer of the KEPZ Humayun Kabir Chowdhury, Md Salim and Saiful Islam Alais Saiful.

Naser, Humayun and Salim have been sentenced to life imprisonment and Saiful's acquittal has been cancelled by the HC on February 12, 2014, for killing Rabbani.  

The HC passed the order for surrender in a full judgment which was released on Tuesday after its judges concerned have signed it last week, court sources said. 

The Druta Bichar Tribunal, Chittagong in April 2005 handed down five years' imprisonment to Abu Naser and Humayun Kabir, life-term imprisonment to Selim, Mohammad Hashim and Abdul Malik Sohel, and acquitted Md Saiful Islam alias Bilai Saiful in the case.

The same year, the convicts appealed to the HC against the verdict while the government filed two revision petitions seeking the death penalty for the accused.

Hashim had been acquitted earlier while Sohel was acquitted on February 12, 2014, by the HC.