10 PBCP outlaws to die for murder

A speedy trial tribunal in Rajshahi yesterday sentenced ten outlawed cadres of Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) to death for the murder of five people, including four policemen.
The ten were indicted in a robbery case. The accused murdered four policemen and a leaseholder of Chowbaria Hat of Manda upazila in Naogaon in 2006 while looting firearms and ammunition.
Delivering verdicts in two cases, one for blasting explosives and the other for the robbery and murders, the tribunal judge ATM Mesbauddoula sentenced seven others to life term imprisonment and four to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.
The ten PBCP men sentenced to death are PBCP regional organising secretary Nurul Islam Shahin, PBCP cadres Tahurul Islam, Shafikul Islam, Abu Bakar Siddik, Nurunnabi Hasan, Shafikul Islam-2, Sanjay Kumar Saha, Pintu, Dilip and Tomal.
The ten along with Khairul Islam and Abdul Awal were also sentenced to life term imprisonment in the case for blasting explosives.
Raghunath Barman, Abdul Karim, Ahmed Shah Nurul, Sanaul Islam and Azimuddin were given life terms in the case for robbery and murder. They were also given 10 years in jail each in the explosives' case.
Abdul Mannan, Rabiul Islam, Joynal Abedin, and Majed Ali were given 10 years jail in the robbery case.
The life term convicts were fined Tk 3000 each while those sentenced to 10-year imprisonment were fined Tk 2000 each. In default of this, they would serve six and three extra months in jail respectively.
A total 21 PBCP outlaws were accused in the charge sheet of the case on April 16, 2007.
Seven of the accused were present in court when the verdict was given while 14 remain absconding. Four out of those initially taken into custody went into hiding after freed on bail.
Inspector Illias Fakir, officer-in-charge (OC) of Manda police station, said Shahin, Tahurul, Shafikul, Abdul Karim, and Raghunath provided confessional judicial statements.
The OC said, the murder was orchestrated under the direction of influential cattle trader Azim Uddin following rivalry over leasing of the Chowbaria Hat and extortion. Azim Uddin hired the PBCP killers for Tk 10 lakh for the crime.
More than 10 of the accused in the case were staff of Rajshahi based NGO Centre for Action Research Barind (CARB), run by Dr Asaduzzaman, brother of ex-BNP minister barrister Aminul Haq. They held a meeting at the CARB office before the operation, the IO said in his charge sheet.
The five men murdered on August 25, 2006 are sub inspector Firoz, constables Askan Ali, Farid Uddin, Babul and Chowbaria Hat lease-holder Nazer Ali.
The robbers also looted a pistol, a shotgun, a Chinese rifle, a 3.3 rifle and ammunition from those policemen.