Biswajit Murder: HC verdict on Aug 6

The High Court will deliver its verdict on the death references and appeals in the sensational Biswajit Das murder case on August 6.

Proprietor of Amantron Tailors in the capital's Shakharibazar area, Bishwajit, 24, was hacked to death in public on his way to the tailoring shop in the capital's Shakharibazar during a countrywide road-blockade programme on December 9, 2012.

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists of Jagannath University attacked him with machetes, iron rods and hockey sticks in front of Bahadur Shah Park. The activists had reportedly mistook him for a picketer.

Yesterday, the HC bench of Justice Md Ruhul Quddus and Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty fixed August 6 for delivering the verdict after concluding the hearing on the death references and appeals for 15 days.

On December 18, 2013, a Dhaka court sentenced eight activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League to death and 13 others to life imprisonment for killing Biswajit.

The court observed that footage of the murder broadcast on national and international media shocked all. The brutality of the offence had tarnished the country's image before the entire world, said Judge ABM Nizamul Haque of Speedy Trial Tribunal-4.

The condemned BCL men are Rafiqul Islam Shakil, Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, Emdadul Haque Emdad, GM Rasheduzzaman Shaon, Md Saiful Islam, Qayum Mia Tipu, Rajon Talukdar and Noor-e-Alam Limon. Of them, Rajon and Limon are on the run.

The ones given life imprisonment are AHM Kibria, Saiful Islam Saiful, Golam Mustafa, Alauddin, Obaidul Quader Tahsin, Imran Hossain, Khandaker Md Yunus Ali, Tarique Bin Zohur, Azizur Rahman, Al Amin Sheikh, Monirul Haque Pavel, Mosharraf Hossain and Kamrul Hasan.

Of them, only Kibria and Mustafa are behind bars while the rest are absconding.

Fourteen appeals were filed with the HC by the convicts challenging the lower court verdict.

During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Nazibur Rahman prayed to the HC to uphold the trial court verdict, saying that the allegations were proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Meanwhile, the defence counsels prayed to the HC to acquit the accused persons, who filed the appeals, saying that there was no eye witness in the case.

The accused were convicted and sentenced by the lower court on the basis of video footage and still images of the incident, they argued.

Munsurul Hoque Chowdhury, Yusuf Hossain Humayun, SM Shahjahan, among other lawyers argued in defence of the accused.