7-murder: Nur Hossain, Rab commander Tareque, 24 others get death

- 26 including Nur Hossain, 3 ex-Rab officials get death penalty

- 9 jailed for various terms

- Court read out verdict at 10:03am

- 23 of the accused present during verdict

- Lawyers bring out procession welcoming the verdict

- Security beefed up around court premises

Prime accused Nur Hossain, sacked commanding officer of Rab-11 Tareque Sayeed Mohammad and 24 others were awarded death penalty in Narayanganj 7-murder case.

Nine other accused were sentenced to seven to 17 years’ of imprisonment by the judge of Narayanganj District and Sessions Judge's Court Sayed Enayet Hossain.

Apart from the Rab commanding officer, there are two other dismissed officials of the elite force in the death row list.  They are Maj Arif Hossain and Lt commander Masud Rana.

The other condemned convicts are, Mizanur Rahman Dipu, Abdul Alim, Mohinuddin Munshi, Lans Nayek Hira Miah, Sipahi Abu Toiyob, Selim, Sanaullah Sana, Shah Jahan, Jamal Uddin, Asad-uj-jaman Noor, Purnendu Bala, ROG Arif Hossain, Al Amin, Tajul Islam, Enamul, Belal Hossain, Shihab Uddin, Mortuja Jaman Churchill, Ali Mohammad, Abul Basher, Raham Ali, Emdadul Haque.

READ MORE: A long, winding road to justice

Ruhul Amin, Soinik Nuruzzaman, SI Abul Kalam Azad, Babul Hasan, SI Kamal Hosen and Constable Habibur Rahman Habib were sentenced to ten years’ of imprisonment.  

Besides, the court also jailed ASI Bozlur Rahman and Nasir Uddin for seven years.

Meanwhile, after the verdict, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters at his Secretariat office that "the verdict in Narayanganj seven-murder case proved that the government would not spare anyone."

READ ALSO: Nur Hossain repatriated

Expressing satisfaction over the verdict, prosecution lawyer Advocate Sakhawat Hossain said, “We want immediate implementation of the verdict.”

Around 10:03am, the court started reading out the verdict amid tight security in and around the court premises.

Five accused including Nur Hossain were taken to the court from Kashimpur jail in Gazipur around 9:40am while 18 other accused were brought from Narayanganj jail around 9:00am, our correspondents report from the spot.

ALSO READ: 3 more Rab men involved

Seven people, including Narayanganj City Corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, were abducted from the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road on April 27, 2014. Later, their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya.

Kamal Uddin, officer-in-charge of Fatullah Police Station, told The Daily Star that the authorities strengthened security to avert any untoward incident ahead of the verdict.

Over 300 policemen were deployed on the court premises since 6:00am, he said.

On November 30 last year, a Narayanganj court fixed today [January 16, 2017] for delivering its verdict on the sensational seven murders after the completion of the defence arguments in favour of 23 arrested accused and 12 fugitives.

Earlier on February 8 last year, 35 people including Nur Hossain and three Rab officials were indicted in two cases filed over the incident.

Immediately after the murders, Nur Hossain fled to India. However, he was arrested in Kolkata for trespassing and possessing illegal firearm.

Bangladesh government brought back Nur Hossain from India on November 12, 2015.

He was accused in 21 other cases filed with police stations in Siddhirganj and Fatullah but he managed to stay out of jail and maintain his influence in the city until the seven-murder incident.

Nur, who was a vice president of Siddhirganj Thana Awami League when the murders took place, reportedly owns businesses and assets in India and Malaysia.

Convicts sent to jail

Twenty three convicts, who were present at the courtroom were sent to jail today after the court pronounced their verdict.

After the preparation of necessary documents, the convicts were taken to Kashimpur and Narayanganj jails around 1:45pm today, said Public Prosecutor Wazed Ali Khokon.

Five of the accused including prime accused Nur Hossain and Tareque Sayeed were taken to Kashimpur jail in a prison van, while 18 others were sent to Narayanganj jail.