Abu Sayeed

A Sylhet court yesterday handed down capital punishment on three persons including a sacked police constable for killing nine-year-old Abu Sayeed for ransom.

Judge Abdur Rashid of Sylhet Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal also fined the condemned convicts Tk 1 lakh each in default of which they will have to serve one year in prison.

The convicts are Abdur Rakib, general secretary of Sylhet district unit Awami Olama League, Ebadur Rahman, a sacked constable of Sylhet airport police, and Ataur Rahman Geda, a police informant.

"I think capital punishment would suffice to stop repetition of such occurrences," said the judge.

The convicts were present in the court when the verdict was pronounced in a crowded courtroom, our correspondent Mintu Deshwara reports.

The court acquitted Mahib Hossain Masum, publicity secretary of the district unit of Olama League, as allegation against him could not be proved.

Abu Sayeed, a fourth grader at Shah Mir Govt Primary School in Sylhet, was abducted by the accused on March 11. The kidnappers had demanded Tk 500,000 in ransom from his family.

Three days later, Sylhet police recovered the child's body wrapped in sacks from the attic of constable Ebadur Rahman's house at Kumarpara in the city.

The shocking incident outraged locals who strongly protested against the incident and demanded punishment of the killers.

The victim's father Abdul Matin filed a murder case against the arrestees and three other unidentified people.

Meantime, different courts in the country yesterday sentenced 21 people to death in connection with separate murder incidents.

PEOPLE HAIL SAYEED'S VERDICT

A large number of people crowded the court compound in Sylhet since morning to hear the verdict in the gruesome murder of the schoolboy.

As the prison van carrying the four accused reached the court in the afternoon, the people burst out in anger and started chanting slogans, demanding maximum punishment. Some even hurled shoes at the vehicle.

As soon as the court pronounced the sentences, the people cheered and hailed the verdict.

"We are glad that the verdict came quickly. We are happy," said Sayeed's father Abdul Matin.

"My son's soul will rest in peace when the death sentence is carried out," said the father, who was seen crying on the court premises.

Sayeed's mother Saleha Begum said, "I am happy today. But I would get justice when the killers will be hanged."

Their neighbour Gofur Ali said, "The killers should be hanged immediately. They do not deserve to live even a single more day."

Public Prosecutor Abdul Malek said the verdict, which came quickly, would set an example for the judiciary.

Before pronouncing the verdict, the judge said he had completed the trial within nine workdays.

He further said the case was the fastest one and completed even faster than the murder cases of Rajon in Sylhet and Rakib in Khulna.

Defence counsel Sheikh Ashraful Alam said they would challenge the verdict in the High Court.

Police pressed charges on September 23 accusing the four, three of whom later confessed in the court to abducting and murdering the boy. The court framed murder charges against the policeman and three others on November 17.

The court had earlier recorded testimonies of 28 witnesses between November 19 and November 26.

FOUR TO DIE FOR KILLING SCHOOLBOY

Four people were sentenced to death for killing minor boy Rakibul Hasan Emon in Narayanganj for Tk 10 lakh ransom.

Judge Miaji Mohammad Shahidul Islam of Additional District and Session Judge's Special Tribunal in Narayanganj pronounced the verdict yesterday.

Two of the four accused, Sayedur Rahman and Toffazzol, were present in the court. The other two -- Sharjahan Jibon and Zaman -- were tried in absentia.

Earlier, the court sentenced Al Amin, cousin of Emon, to 10 years imprisonment under the Juvenile Act for his involvement in the crime.

Ninth grader Emon was the son of Nura Miah, an expatriate in Mauritius, hailing from Dhamgar union.

On January 29, 2014, the convicts called Emon, who was returning home, through AL Amin and abducted him. They later demanded a ransom from his mother and threatened to kill the boy if they were not given the money, said Additional Public Prosecutor Abdur Rahim.

But they killed Emon as he identified the kidnappers. They later dumped the body in a ditch in Malibhita area. Police recovered his body on March 6.

ONE TO DIE FOR KILLING SCHOOLGIRL

Another Narayanganj court yesterday handed down death penalty on a man for killing ninth-grader Sonya Akter Sajeda after raping her.

Judge KM Rasheduzzaman Raza of Narayanganj Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal delivered the verdict.

The accused, Delwar Hossain, was present in the court.

Delwar picked Sonya on August 29, 2008 on the way to her school and brought her to a hotel.  He raped and strangled her to death, said the prosecutor.

11 GET DEATH SENTENCES FOR KILLING JUBO LEAGUE PRESIDENT

Eleven people were sentenced to death for killing Jubo League leader Jalal Uddin Sarker in Kapasia upazila of Gazipur more than a decade ago.

Jalal, president of Kapasia upazila unit Jubo League, was hacked to death in broad daylight at Balkhela Bazar on August 14, 2004.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Fazl-E Elahi Bhuiyan pronounced the verdict and also fined each of the accused Tk 10,000, our Gazipur correspondent reports.

All the accused belong to local BNP and its affiliated organisations. Of them, Faruk Hossain, Belayet Hossen Beltu, Abdul Alim, Ataur Rahman, Joynal Abedin and Farhad were present in the courtroom. The rest five -- Joj Mia, Al Amin, Mahbubur Rahman, Ahim Fakir and Jewel -- were tried in absentia.

Jalal's father Amjad Hussain, mother Halima Khatun, only daughter Shahria Jalal Ridi, who were present at the courtroom, expressed satisfaction over the verdict.

The victim's brother filed a case a day after the murder with Kapasia police. The charge sheet in the case was submitted on January 23, 2004.

HUSBAND TO DIE FOR KILLING WIFE

A Kushtia court yesterday sentenced Rokon Mondol to death for killing his pregnant wife in 2011.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Reza Md Alamgir pronounced the verdict.

Rokon, a rickshaw puller of Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia, murdered his wife Laily, who was six-month pregnant, on the night of August 26, 2011 following an argument. He was under the influence during the incident.

The husband later dumped her body in a roadside canal near their house and fled. Police recovered the body two days later.

Chand Ali, father of Laily, filed a case with Daulatpur police against Rokon and the police arrested him on September 5, 2013.

FOUR TO DIE FOR KILLING DRIVER

A Chittagong court yesterday awarded death penalty to four people for killing a CNG-run auto rickshaw driver in Anwara upazila in 2008.

The court also sentenced two persons to life term imprisonment for their involvement in the crime.

The convicts are Nurul Alam of Bhola, Abul Kalam of Lalmohan, Md Kawsar of Banshkhali and Rubel alias Bosti Rubel of Bakalia, while the life-term convicts are Ariful Islam Tuhin and SM Noimuddin Rubel.

Chittagong District Special Sessions Judge Syeda Hosne Ara of Public Safety Tribunal pronounced the verdict after testifying 17 witnesses.

Of the convicts, Kawsar and Noim are behind bars, while the rest are on the run.

The court also fined the convicts Tk 50,000 each, in default of which they will have to serve six months in prison.

According to the prosecution, on May 3 in 2008, with an aim to snatch the CNG-run auto rickshaw of driver Yusuf, the convicts hired it from city's Bahaddarhat area to go to Anwara.

As the auto rickshaw reached Chatari area of Anwara, the convicts strangled Yusuf. Later, they left the body in a canal of Gomdandi area in Boalkhali upazila.

Yusuf's cousin Hatem Tai filed a case with Boalkhali police on May 5, 2008.