A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced eight people, including three siblings, to death for killing AL activist and former Lalbagh ward 62 commissioner Haji Mohammad Alim in 1996.
Dhaka third additional metropolitan sessions Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman convicted siblings Syed Ahmed, Basir Ahmed and Farid Ahmed, and Md Harun, Siraj Ali, Shawkat Ali, Md Shiblu and Kamal Hossain and handed down the verdict.The court also fined each convict Tk50,000.
Five of the convicts, who have been on bail, were present in the court. Shawkat, Shiblu and Kamal were tried in absentia as they have been absconding since the murder. All of the accused are inhabitants of Lalbagh area.
On February 8, 1996, the killers attacked Haji Mohammad Alim and his brother Haji Nazim Uddin in front of Wasiullah Hotel at Azimpur. They fired at Alim and his brother with locally-made arms for not paying extortion.
They were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared Alim dead.
On February 9, 1996, Haji Md Badir Uddin Ahmed Babla, younger brother of Alim, filed a murder case with Lalbagh police station against the accused.
The then sub-inspector of the Lalbagh police station Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal submitted the charge sheet on April 30, 1997, and the court framed the charges on May 21, 2000. The court examined 18 of 34 prosecution witnesses.
Alim’s family members expressed satisfaction at the judgement.
Defence counsels said they would go to the High Court against the verdict.