With two of the accused in the murder trial of an 18-year old boy out on bail and three others on the run, the father of the allegedly murdered boy seemed crestfallen after the case that took two years to bring to trial was halted for six months.
“Two accused are on bail, three others are on the run. Charges were framed against the five accused after four deferrals. Eventually, the trial was shifted to the Speedy Trial Tribunal but now the proceedings have been stopped by the High Court (HC). A lot of influential people want to delay this case. What can I say?” asked Prabir Kumar Majumdar, father of A-level student Himadri Majumdar Himu who was brutally killed in Chittagong city’s Panchlaish area in 2012.
The Himadri murder has been halted for six months by an order of the HC.
The HC issued the order following the plea of an accused in the case, court sources said.
The HC order arrived at the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court in Chittagong on Monday and the court sent it to Speedy Trial Tribunal where the trial will be held.
Advocate Mohammad Fakhruddin Chowdhury, Chittagong Metropolitan public prosecutor, told Dhaka Tribune that one of the accused in the case, Shahadat Hossain Shaju, pleaded before the HC to stop the trial while an HC Bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Jafor Ahmed gave the stay order on July 21.
“The stay order, signed by an Assistant Registrar of the HC on August 3, arrived at Chittagong on Monday so the trial of the case will be halted for six months,” the public prosecutor said.
The cross-examination of the sixth Prosecution Witness Jawad Ali Chowdhury, general secretary of anti-drug organisation “Shikor”, was under way but has been halted due to the HC stay order.
Himadri’s father told the Dhaka Tribune that the trial had stumbled at every step since it was started nearly two years after the incident and it now it was being delayed again, he said expressing confusion at the situation.
“After shifting the trial to the Speedy Trial Tribunal, the trial has been stopped.
This is no way for common people to live,” he said, adding that they would go to the HC over the stay order.
The victim, affectionately called Himu by those who knew him was18-years old. The A-level student of Summerfield School and College, was allegedly pushed off the roof of a four-storied building in Panchlaish Residential Area on April 27, 2012, by his friends after being tortured by ferocious Doberman dogs.
He died in Dhaka after fighting for his life for 26 days. He was allegedly killed for his anti-drug activities involving the anti-drug organisation “Shikor.”
Asit Das, maternal uncle of the deceased, lodged a case with Panchlaish Police Station against the five accused in connection with Himu’s death.
Police submitted the charge-sheet of the case on September 30, 2012, accusing Himu’s friends Junaid Ahmed Riad, his father Shah Selim Tipu, Riad’s friends Shahadat Hossain Shaju, Mahbub Ali Khan Danny and Zahidul Islam Shaon who were indicted in the case on February 3 this year.
Tipu and Shaju are on bail while the others are on run, sources said.
The case was shifted from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court to Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court at the beginning of November last year while the trial of the case was run before the court of the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Session Judge Shahidul Islam.
On July 16, the case was shifted to the Speedy Trial Tribunal but has been stayed by an order of the High Court.