The High Court has scrapped bail for seven accused in a double murder case in Terokhada upazila of Khulna as they secured bail with forged documents.
The accused were granted bail on February 24.
The court has also ordered law enforcement agencies to arrest the seven, asking the registrar general of the Supreme Court to take legal action against those who benefited from the forgery as well as the defence lawyer, if his involvement is confirmed.
The HC bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Md Atoar Rahman issued the order after hearing a recall petition by state lawyer, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Saifuddin Khaled, in this regard.
According to the state lawyer, a group of people attacked and seriously injured Hiru Sheikh over previous enmity on August 20 last year. The perpetrators also stabbed Hiru’s son Naim, 26, to death with sharp weapons when he rushed in to try to save his father.
Hiru died of his injuries after being taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital.
Police submitted the charge sheet against 19 accused. Among the arrested, three gave confessional statements to a Khulna Court.
On February 18, seven accused filed bail petitions with the High Court after their bail had been rejected by a lower court. In the bail petition with the High Court, they did not mention the confessional statements.
On February 24, they were granted bail by the High Court, the lawyer said.
The seven accused are--Sheikh Saiful Islam, Abdur Rahman, Khalid Sheikh, Iskander Sheikh, Jamir Sheikh, Ziarul Sheikh and Abbas Sheikh.
After the seven secured bail, some of the others accused, filed bail petitions with the High Court where they mentioned the confessional statements by the three accused, who were among the seven released. The state lawyer informed DAG Saifuddin Khaled of the matter and he investigated it.
Saifuddin Khaled told Dhaka Tribune: “Forgery has increased in the Khulna area recently and we have seen a couple of other incidents with the High Court as well. First, it is the lawyer’s responsibility to check submitted documents, but there is no system to check with the offices concerned. If there was a system to check the entire document digitally, this forgery could not have happened.”