Bishwajit murder convict Tamal surrenders, jailed

On the run for six years with a life term sentence on his head, ex-Bangladesh Chhatra League activist Tarique Bin Zohor alias Tamal surrendered today.

Judge Abdur Rahman Sardar of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 in Dhaka sent him to jail after he surrendered before the judge and sought bail in the case.

Tamal was given life in absentia on December 18 of 2013. The court had said the punishment of the fugitive will be effective from the day of his arrest or surrender.

The same tribunal sentenced eight BCL activists to death and 13 others to life imprisonment for killing tailor Bishwajit Das in Old Dhaka six years ago.

Chhatra League activists of the Jagannath University unit mistook Bishwajit, 24, for a blockader during the opposition’s blockade around 9:00am on December 9 of 2012.

Bishwajit was hacked to death in broad daylight, an incident that spread terror and shock across the country. The open murder had sparked mass protests.