SM Mahmud Setu, a death row convict in Buet student Abrar Fahad murder case, today filed an appeal with the High Court seeking acquittal of the charges.

This is the first appeal that challenged trial court verdict in the sensational murder case, a source at the HC office said. 

Setu, also a Buet student, submitted the appeal petition claiming that he is innocent as he had no involvement in the incident and was not present on the crime scene.

Citing the appeal, his lawyer Jamiul Haque Faisal told The Daily Star the name of his client (Setu) was not mentioned in the first information report of the case, and he was not a member of Buet's Chhatra League group who committed the offence.

The lawyer said he will place the petition before the HC next week for its hearing.

A Dhaka court on December 8 last year sentenced 20 students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) to death for their direct involvement in the murder of second year student Abrar Fahad in a dorm room -- an incident that shocked the nation two years ago.

The court also sentenced five other Buet students to life imprisonment for their role in the murder.