Verdict on Jan 30

Former home minister Lutfozzaman Babar, an accused in the 10-truck arms haul cases, is being taken to a Chittagong court yesterday. Photo: Star

A Chittagong special tribunal yesterday set January 30 for delivering the verdict in the sensational cases of 10-truck arms haul in 2004.
Former BNP state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, former industries minister, war crimes accused and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and a few high-ranking intelligence agency and government officials are accused in two cases filed in this connection.
Defence lawyers for eight out of 11 accused with a supplementary charge sheet placed their closing arguments between noon and 5:00pm yesterday.
The tribunal did not allow lawyers of former National Security Intelligence (NSI) director general Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim and former NSI deputy director Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain to place their arguments as the two had expressed no confidence in the tribunal.
A lawyer for Babar asked the court for one more day since Babar's lawyer Abdus Sobhan Tarafder could not attend court yesterday.
In response, Judge SM Mojibur Rahman of the Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 ordered all to submit their closing arguments in writing by January 23 and said the verdict on the cases would be declared on January 30.
A large amount of arms and ammunition reportedly meant for Indian separatist organisation United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) was captured at a jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) in the early hours of April 2, 2004.
The arms and ammo were being loaded on to 10 trucks from two fishing trawlers.
The two cases, an arms case and a smuggling case, were filed with Karnaphuli Police Station the following day.

In 2004, investigators submitted a charge sheet accusing 45 people in the smuggling case and 43 in the arms case. The accused were mostly labourers, truckers and trawler pilots.
In 2008, a Chittagong court ordered further investigation into the cases following which 11 more people, including Babar and Nizami, were accused in June, 2011, through a supplementary charge sheet.
The supplementary charge sheet also accused Ulfa leader Paresh Barua, former director general of NSI Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim, the then director (Counter Intelligence Bureau) of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, former additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin, former NSI director Wing Commander (retd) Shahab Uddin, former NSI deputy director Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain, former NSI field officer Akbar Hossain Khan, former managing director of CUFL Mohsin Uddin Talukder and former CUFL general manager KM Enamul Hoque.
DEFENCE ARGUMENTS
Nizami's lawyer Kafil Uddin claimed before the court that Nizami was implicated in the cases with political intention. He said the Awami League-led government was trying to eliminate Jamaat-e-Islami and its chief Nizami.
Kafil said the statements and depositions of two prosecution witnesses, former industries secretary Shoeb Ahmad and former chairman of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, did not match.
The two had implicated Nizami in the cases.
Mahmudur Rahman, defence lawyer for prime accused Hafizur Rahman and former CUFL general manager KM Enamul Hoque, said any confessional statement must be recorded before a trial begins.
He said investigation officer of the cases additional superintendent of CID Moniruzzaman had prepared the supplementary charge sheet based on a confessional statement Hafizur had made years after the trial began in 2005.
He claimed that the statement of Hafizur should have no value before the law.
Kamrul Islam Sazzad, lawyer for former DGFI director Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, said Rezzakul was implicated through the confessional statement of former NSI director Shahab.
He claimed that Shahab was tortured during his seven days in remand and was forced to make the baseless confessional statement, which mentioned links of NSI and DGFI officials with the arms smuggling.
He said none of the previous four investigation officers of the cases or any witness examined prior to the further investigation had mentioned any links of the officials with the arms smuggling.
Lawyers of former managing director of CUFL Mohsin Uddin Talukder, Deen Mohammad, former NSI field officer Akbar Hossain and former NSI director Shahab also placed their arguments.
The defence lawyers claimed that the prosecution could not prove any of the charges against their clients.