Prof Taher Murder: Mohiuddin killed him to secure his promotion at RU

Mia Mohammad Mohiuddin, then associate professor of Rajshahi University, plotted to kill S Taher Ahmed, the then senior-most professor of its geology and mining department. He hatched the conspiracy to clear his way to become a professor in the department, observed the Supreme Court in its full text of verdict released yesterday.

"In view of the evidence as discussed earlier we have no hesitation to hold that Dr Mohiuddin, a highly educated man and Associate Professor of Rajshahi University, only for the purpose of getting promotion as Professor annihilated Dr Taher from this world presuming that if Professor Taher lived, the chance of his getting promotion as Professor was zero," said a six-member bench of the Appellate Division of the SC headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique in 68-page full verdict.

Other five judges are -- Justice Md Nuruzzaman, Justice Obaidul Hassan, Justice Borhanuddin, Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Krishna Debnath.

Taher Ahmed, a 59-year-old professor, was killed on February 1, 2006 and police recovered his body from a septic tank on the university campus on February 3 the same year.

On April 5 this year, the Appellate Division bench delivered a short verdict in the case upholding the High Court judgement that on April 21, 2013 confirmed the death sentences of Mohiuddin and caretaker at Taher's residence Md Jahangir Alam and commuted the death sentences of Jahangir Alam's brother Md Abdus Salam and brother-in-law Md Nazmul.

That day, the SC dismissed the convicts' appeals.

The convicts' defence lawyers Khandker Mahbub Hossain and Imran A Siddiq told The Daily Star that their clients will file separate review petitions with the Appellate Division in 30 days.

The death sentences cannot be executed until the review petitions' disposal, they said.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin said, "They [Mohiuddin and Jahangir] can now seek mercy from the president... If the president does not grant their mercy petitions, the jail authorities can execute their death sentences."

Replying to a question, the attorney general said the death-row convicts' lawyers will have to take a stay order from the Appellate Division in order to halt the process of their execution if they want to move any review petition.

Otherwise, the verdict will be executed, said senior lawyer AM Amin Uddin.