HC upholds 2 death sentences in Rangpur shrine murder case
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High Court upheld the death sentences of two JMB members and acquitted five others in connection with the murder of shrine khadem Rahmat Ali in Rangpur.
Justice Jafar Ahmed and Justice Sathika Hossain delivered the verdict on Sunday. The two defendants whose death sentences the court sustained are JMB commander Masud Rana and Liton Miah.
Meanwhile, the court acquitted JMB members Ishahak Ali, 34, Sakhawat Hossain alias Rahul, 30, Sarwar Hossain Sabu alias Mizan, 30, JMB’s northern region commander Bijoy alias Ali alias Dorji, 30, and Chandu Miah, 20.
SM Shahjahan and Anwar Hossain represented the defendants. Anwar said, “In November 2015, Rahmat was killed in Kaunia, Rangpur. First, a case was filed and no one’s name was in the case’s first information report (FIR). It became a chargesheet after a long investigation.
“Names of 14 people came in the chargesheet. After that, the trial was completed. The trial court sentenced seven people to death. All others were acquitted. The verdict was given after hearing the death reference, jail appeal, and appeals filed by the defendants in the High Court.”
On 18 March 2018, Rangpur Special Judge Naresh Chandra Sarkar sentenced seven individuals to death in this case, while the court acquitted six other accused individuals.
Assailants hacked and slit the throat of Rahmat Ali, 60, the khadem of the shrine at Chaitar Mor under Madhupur Union in Kaunia Upazila, Rangpur, on 10 November 2015. Rahmat, the former president of Tepamadhupur Union Awami League, also operated a pharmacy in Chaitar Bazar.
Following the incident, the victim’s son, Shafiqul Islam, filed a case at Kaunia Police Station. Later, the police submitted a chargesheet to the court, naming 13 individuals as accused. Among the accused, Bike Hasan and Saddam Hossain died during gunfights with the police.
