Four get life, three acquitted

A court here yesterday sentenced four people to life term imprisonment in the sensational Liton Das murder case.
District and Sessions Judge Golam Mortuza Mazumder delivered the verdict in a crowded courtroom. He also fined the convicts Tk 25,000 each, in default, to suffer six months more in jail. The convicts are Nakul Datta, of Char Aloa village, Nazimuddin and Hazrat Ali of Aloa village in Sadar upazila and Mohammad Jahangir of Maithan village in Delduar upazila in the district.
The Court took deposition of 24 witnesses before delivering the verdict. It acquitted three other accused, Titu, Khokon Das and Tokon Das, as allegations brought against them were not proved.
According to the prosecution, Nakul Datta along with others, on March 3, 2004, took Liton Das, owner of a watch shop in the town, near the Jamuna river at Alokdia village in Sadar upazila. They slaughtered him there with sharp weapons and threw the body into the river.
The murder was a sequel to a financial dispute.
After 23 days of the incident, Liton's father Ranjit Kumar Das of Purbo Adalat Para in the town filed a murder case accusing seven people with Sadar police station.
Later, accused Nakul Datta made a confessional statement under Section 164 to the court of Magistrate Ziauddin on May 3, 2005.
Nakul, Nazim and Jahangir were present at the court at the time of verdict while another accused Hazrat Ali was tried in absentia.
Public Prosecutor Akbar Ali Khan appeared for the state while advocates Golam Mostofa and Abul Kashem stood for the accused.