Death row convict in 10-truck arms haul case dies with Covid-19

Former Director General of National Security Intelligence (NSI) Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim, a death row convict in 10-truck arms haul cases in Chattogram, died at a Dhaka hospital with Covid-19 infection.

"He breathed his last at the intensive care unit of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital around 6:00am," Mahbubul Islam, jailor of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj told The Daily Star.

Earlier, Abdur Rahim was admitted to the hospital on July 31 after he tested Covid-19 positive at Kashimpur Central Jail-2, he added.

In 2014, a Chattogram court handed down death penalty to 14 people, including Abdur Rahim, ex-ministers Lutfozzaman Babar and Motiur Rahman Nizami, for smuggling 10 truckloads of arms into Chattogram during the BNP-led government's tenure in 2004.

Death reference and appeals of the case are pending with the High Court.