Militant PHOTO: COURTESY
A court has sentenced 14 militants to death for plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by planting a bomb at a public meeting place in Gopalganj's Kotalipara.
Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 - Judge Abu Zafar. Kamruzzaman announced the verdict on Tuesday.
The arguments in the case ended on March 11. At the hearing, the prosecution demanded the death penalty for all the 14 accused. Later, the court fixed today for announcing the verdict. According to him, the verdict was announced today.
The 14 convicts sentenced to death are: Mofizur Rahman, Mahmud Azhar, Rasheduzzaman, Tareq, Wadud Sheikh alias Gazi Khan, Azizul Haque, Lokman, Yusuf alias Moshab Moral, Moshab Hasan alias Rashu, Sheikh Md. Enamul Haque, Anisul Islam, Sarwar Hossain, Amirul Islam and Rafiqul Islam Khan.
Before the verdict was announced, nine accused in jail were produced in court today. Strict security measures were taken in and around the court following the verdict.
A total of three cases were registered in this incident. Judgments in two of the cases were already in the court. Today is the verdict of the other case.
On July 22, 2000, a powerful bomb was found on the premises of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman Government Adarsh College in Kotalipara, Gopalganj, while the stage for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s public meeting was being prepared. An army team recovered the bomb weighing 76 kg. The next day, on July 23, another bomb weighing 40 kg was recovered.
In this incident, the police filed three cases under the Attempted Assassination, Conspiracy to Assassinate and Explosives Control Act against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Kotalipara Police Station.
The trial court ruled on August 20, 2016 in the case of attempted murder and explosives control act, the court sentenced 10 militants to death and 13 others to various terms of imprisonment. All the convicts are leaders and activists of the banned militant group Harkatul Jihad Al Islami Bangladesh (HUJI-B).
An appeal has also been passed in the attempted murder case. The High Court upheld the death sentence of 10 militants in a verdict announced on February 17. One convict sentenced to life imprisonment and two convicts sentenced to 14 years have also been upheld. Another convict sentenced to 14 years has been acquitted by the high court.
On the other hand, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police filed a charge-sheet in the court on November 15, 2001 in a case of conspiracy to commit murder. In 2004, the court framed charges against 14 accused. Of the 50 witnesses for the state, 34 testified.
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