Five to die for killing 4 of a family in Bagerhat

A court here yesterday sentenced five people to death for killing four members of a family in Sharankhola upazila of the district in 2000.
Judge SM Solaiman of the District and Sessions Judges Court issued death sentences to Abdul Kuddus, Shahid Sarder, his wife Mafila Begum of Bamna upazila in Barguna district; Shah Alam of Pirojpur district; and Wahidul alias Shariful of Dhaka.
They all were tried in absentia.
According to the prosecution, the five were well acquainted with village doctor Gazi Shahabuddin and came to his house at Lakurtala village in Sharankhola on March 9, 2000.
They made all the members of the house unconscious feeding them sweetmeat laced with sedatives at night and slit the throats of Gazi Shahabuddin, his wife Tahmina Khatun, their daughter Lily Akhter and son Monir Hossain.
The five looted gold ornaments and other valuables and left the house.
Md Ilias Hossain, brother-in-law of Shahbuddin, filed a murder case with Sharankhiola Police Station the following day, accusing the five.  
The then officer-in-charge of Sharankhola police station Nimai Chandra Mandal, also the investigation officer of the case, filed a charge sheet against the five on September 20 the same year.  
During the investigation, two of the convicts-Abdul Kuddus and Mafila Begum-were arrested. They gave confessional statement before the court. After getting bail, Kuddus and Mafila went into hiding.