The High Court has reinstated a lower court’s verdict that awarded death sentence to three and life-term imprisonment to two Huji militants for the assassination attempt on former British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury in 2004.
The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Amir Hossain pronounced the judgement yesterday, more than seven years after the trial court verdict. All the convicts are now in jail.
“The death reference is accepted. Criminals’ appeals are dismissed and jail appeals disposed off,” Justice Rahim said in the short order delivered around 12:15pm. No defence lawyer was present at the courtroom during the delivery of the verdict.
The court started hearing on the death references on January 6 this year. The High Court held hearing for nine days and on February 3 fixed the date to deliver its verdict. The convicts filed the appeals against the lower court sentence in 2009.
Three people including an assistant sub-inspector of police were killed while Anwar and over 70 others injured in the grenade attack launched after the Jumma prayers at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal in Sylhet city on May 21, 2004.
Hailing from Sylhet, Anwar served as the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh from 2004 to 2008. He is currently serving as the British Ambassador to Peru.
Three militants of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HujiB) – Mufti Abdul Hannan, Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul, and Md Delwar Hossain alias Ripon – were sentenced to death while two others – Hannan’s brother Muhibullah alias Muhibur Rahman alias Ovi and Mufti Mainuddin Khaja alias Abu Jandal – given life-term jail by the Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal on December 23, 2008.
Another case was filed over the use of explosives is currently under trial at a Sylhet court.
In his confessional statement, Hannan said that Jandal had supplied the grenades through Bipul and Ripon. HujiB received the grenades from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
One of the defence lawyers, Mohammad Ali, told reporters that they would file an appeal with the Appellate Division against the sentence.
Mufti Hanna was given death sentence in the Ramna Batamul bomb blast case and is facing a number of other cases including the August 21 grenade attack case.