A Tangail court on Monday sentenced three people to death and four others to life imprisonment for the 2013 murder of Rafiq-ul Islam Faruk, a three-time former chairman of Dainya Union Parishad and former vice-president of Tangail Sadar BNP.
Md Faisal Al Mamun, judge of the Tangail First Additional District and Sessions Court, pronounced the verdict around noon, nearly 13 years after Faruk was killed.
The death-row convicts are Saniyat Khan Bappa, former vice-president of Bangladesh Chhatra League and son of former lawmaker Ataur Rahman Khan; Md Azad, son of Afzal Fakir of Kagmara; and Shahjahan, son of Shahid Mia of Dyenna. All three are absconding.
The court sentenced Md Sujon, son of Latif Mia of Jogni; Sanowar Hossain, son of Rowshan Ali of Dainya; Shafiqul Islam, son of Md Nurul Islam of Char Kagmara; and Rujbel, son of Nur Box of Chhitki Bari, to life imprisonment.
It also fined each of the three death-row convicts Tk1 lakh and each of the four life-term convicts Tk50,000.
They will serve one year of simple imprisonment if they fail to pay the fines. The court acquitted another accused, Sanjit Ghosh, son of Amulya Ghosh of Dyenna.
According to Public Prosecutor Md Saidur Rahman Swapan, Faruk lived in a rented house in Akurtakur area of Tangail town.
On 20 December 2013, Faruk went out for his morning walk at around 6:30am. When he reached Bot Tola Bazar in Akurtakur, a group of assailants shot and hacked him, leaving him dead at the scene.
Police later recovered the body.
The following day, Faruk’s younger brother Lavlu Mia filed a murder case with Tangail Sadar Police Station.
Ashok Kumar Singha, then an inspector of the district Detective Branch and investigating officer in the case, submitted a charge sheet against eight people on 13 August 2015.
However, Lavlu filed a no-confidence petition against the chargesheet, prompting the court to order a fresh investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
CID Inspector Rafiq Uddin Ahmed submitted a fresh chargesheet on 29 April 2018, against the same eight accused.
The trial began at the Tangail First Additional District and Sessions Court after charges were framed against them.
After recording statements from witnesses and completing the trial proceedings, the court delivered the verdict on Monday.
