N'ganj 7-Murder: HC set to deliver its verdict today

All eyes are on the High Court today as it is set to deliver the verdict on the death references and appeals in the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder cases.

The HC bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam is expected to start announcing the verdict at 10:30am, according to Assistant Attorney General Bashir Ahmed.

After hearing arguments from the prosecution and defence counsels over 33 days, the HC on July 26 had fixed August 13 for delivering the judgment.

But the judges on August 13 deferred delivery of the verdict to August 22 as they could not prepare the judgment on that day.

If a lower court sentences an accused to death, the judgment is examined by the HC for confirming the sentence.

During the hearing on the death references and appeals, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam prayed to the HC to uphold the trial court verdict.

Lawyers Munsurul Hoque Chowdhury, SM Shahjahan, SM Abdul Mobin and Ahsan Ullah defended the accused.

Citing different grounds, they prayed for their clients' acquittal.

On January 16, a Narayanganj court found 35 people, including 25 former Rapid Action Battalion members and expelled Awami League leader Nur Hossain, guilty of abducting and murdering seven people on April 27, 2014 and destroying evidence.

The court sentenced 26 accused, including 16 former Rab members, to death and nine others to jail.

Bodies of the seven victims, including then Narayanganj City Corporation councillor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, were found floating in the Shitalakkhya.