The court has sentenced five leaders of Rangpur BNP to 10 years imprisonment in the case of sabotaging the strike and keeping bombs along with cocktails. At the same time, a fine of 10,000 taka has been imposed. On Monday (November 20), Judge Krishna Kant Roy of Additional District and Sessions Judge Court-1 of Rangpur announced the verdict.
The convicts are – Rangpur Metropolitan BNP Member Secretary Mahfujunnabi Don, District BNP Member Secretary Anisur Rahman Laku, Jubo Dal Organizational Secretary Zahir Alam Nayan, Jubo Dal leaders Tariq Hossain Sohag and Arif Mia.
BNP leader Don, who was in jail at the time of the verdict, was produced in the court but the other four accused were absconding. The court ordered to issue an arrest warrant against them.
According to the complaint of the case, on May 19, 2013, at around 10:30 pm, BNP leaders and activists gathered on the banks of the pond inside the Rangpur Polytechnic Institute to create sabotage during the hartal called the next day on May 20. The police got information from secret sources and raided there and arrested seven BNP and Juba Dal leaders. 56 chocolate bombs and bomb making equipment were recovered from there.
Zaheer Alam Nayan and Tariq Hossain Sohag
In this incident, SI Chandan Kumar Chakraborty of Kotwali police station filed a case under the Explosive Substances Act as the plaintiff. After the investigation, the police gave the charge sheet to the court in the name of seven accused. During the trial of the case, two accused, Raich Ahmed and Jhantu, died. After the testimony and interrogation of 13 witnesses in the case, each of the five accused was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and 10,000 taka fine and ordered to serve another six months in prison.
Additional Public Prosecutor (PP) Abdus Sattar, who is handling the case for the plaintiffs, said that they got fair trial. They are expressing satisfaction with this verdict.
Defendant’s lawyer Aftab Hossain said, it is a formal verdict. The two neutral witnesses in this case were two employees of the Polytechnic Institute. They said in the testimony given in the court, they were woken up by the police and signed their seizure list. They didn’t see any bombs. The police did not show. Not only that, they did not see anyone coming to the Polytechnic Institute that night.
He also said, on the other hand, most of the witnesses in the case are policemen. They also gave different types of testimony in court. The police could not prove any motive to convict the accused in this case. As a result, the defendants have been sentenced through a formal verdict by filing a false case. The accused did not get justice. The order will be appealed to the High Court.
