A special tribunal in Dhaka yesterday deferred until Sunday the delivery of verdict in Jahangirnagar University student Zubair Ahmed murder case since the seven accused, now in jail, were not produced before it on security grounds.
Judge ABM Nizamul Haque of the Speedy Trial Tribunal 4 was set to pronounce the judgement at noon. But it was learnt around 11am that the accused would not be brought to the court from jail.
The date was reserved for verdict on completion of arguments on January 28.
Of the 13 accused in the case, six have been on the run. They all are activists of ruling party’s student wing Chhatra League and batchmates of the victim. Zubair was a honours final year student of English department.
In the beginning of yesterday’s proceedings, Judge Nizamul enquired acting special public prosecutor of the tribunal Taslima Yasmin Dipa about the accused, who were kept at the Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road.
Dipa said the prosecution was prepared for the verdict, but the police authorities had informed them that the accused could not be produced at the court because of the ongoing hartal and blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
The lone defence counsel present at the court, Jamal Uddin Khandaker, then criticised the police and the prosecution for their failure.
He mentioned that top BNP leaders including acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed were brought to the court from jail and hearings on their remand held. “Then why have the police failed to produce these seven accused?”
Showing the verdict copy, the judge then said he was prepared to pronounce the judgement. “It does not matter whether you call it a sensational case, to me it is a murder case. I will not give you much time. The verdict will be delivered on February 8.”
The judge then asked the public prosecutor to personally ensure that the accused are produced on that day.
Asked about the fugitive accused, the prosecutor said it was the job of the police to arrest them.
The seven accused now in jail are Nazmus Sakib Tanu, Md Mazharul Islam, Md Mahmudul Hasan Masud, Md Kamruzzaman Shohag, Shafiul Alam Shetu, Abhinandan Kundu and Md Nazmul Hussain Plabon.
Four accused fled the court on February 23 last year. They are Khandaker Ashikul Islam, Khan Mohammad Rois, Ishtiaque Mehboob Aroop and Mahabub Akram. Two others – Rashedul Islam Raju and Md Zahid Hasan – have been absent from their court appearance since January 23 the same year.
Zubair, a former Chhatra League activist, succumbed to his injuries on January 9, 2012 at United Hospital in the city.
He was beaten and stabbed indiscriminately the previous afternoon on the campus by the accused and their aides. The killers first took him to Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar and left him there with severe injuries.
Following the incident, the university authorities filed a murder case with Ashulia police. On January 30 the same year, seven of them were expelled from the university for life, while six others for two years after the authorities found their direct involvement in the murder.
Students, teachers frustrated
When contacted, Zubair’s elder brother Abdullah Al Mamun, a private university teacher, said the family was waiting to hear death sentence of the accused for the “political murder.” It was preplanned, he added.
Meanwhile, students under the banner of “Shontrasher Biruddhe Jahangirnagar” brought out a procession on the campus at noon.
Government and politics department teacher Prof Naseem Akhter Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: “A number of accused have remained fugitive in the eyes of police, although many of them were seen on the campus and the nearby areas many times.” She said four accused fleeing the court, delay in the trial process and lack of sincerity of the administration indicate that some people were trying to save the criminals.
Proctor Prof Tapan Kumar Saha told journalists that the authorities were cordial enough to ensure justice in the case.
President of the university unit Chhatra League Mahmudur Rahman Jony said they also hoped that the court would hand down adequate punishment to those responsible for the murder.