A Jamalpur court on Thursday sentenced seven people to death and seven others to life imprisonment for the 2016 murder of an uncle and his nephew.
Additional District and Sessions Judge-1 Mohammad Nezam Uddin delivered the verdict at around noon.
The court also fined each of the seven death-row convicts Tk50,000 and each of those sentenced to life imprisonment Tk20,000.
The death-row convicts are Sakhaowat, son of deceased Abdul Majid; Md Sohel, son of Tahijul; Al Amin, son of Asor Sheikh; Saddam, son of deceased Bhola Sheikh; Ujjal, son of Kamal; Antar, son of Soja Mia; and Faizur, son of Shahidul.
Those sentenced to life imprisonment are Chan Mia, son of deceased Gias Uddin; Md Jiar, son of Asor Sheikh; Shah Alam, son of Bhola; Kawsar, son of Rafiqul Islam; Rifat, son of Tara Mia; Sumon, son of Abbas Ali; and Mostafa, son of deceased Natu Sheikh.
All 14 convicts are from Gajaria village in Adarvita union of Madarganj upazila.
How the killings happened
According to Public Prosecutor Didarul Islam Didar, the killings stemmed from a clash between supporters of Awami League-backed chairman candidate Altafur Rahman Ata and rebel candidate Ishaq during the 2016 Adarvita Union Parishad election.
On April 10, 2016, police went to Gajaria village to arrest Mostafa, an adviser to the Adarvita union Awami League and a supporter of Ishaq, in a case filed over the clash.
Police did not know the location of Mostafa's house and sought directions from neighbours Mohor Ali and his nephew Swapan Mia. Police later arrested Mostafa based on the information they provided.
The prosecution said Mostafa held a grudge against the two and planned to take revenge after securing bail.
On May 16, 2016, Mostafa's associates Sakhaowat and Sohel allegedly lured Mohor and Swapan from their homes on the pretext of attending a musical event.
They were then taken to an isolated area of a jute field in the Kukurmari area of Jorkhali union, allegedly on the pretext of meeting a woman known to Saddam.
The prosecution alleged that the accused attacked the two with sharp weapons before killing them by cutting their throats.
Police recovered their bodies from the jute field three days later.
Mohor Ali, son of Abdus Salam Dafadar of Gajaria, was a Class XII student at Mirza Azam College. His nephew Swapan Mia, son of Jahangir Alam, was a Class X student at Sanaibanda Islamia Dakhil Madrasa.
The case
Swapan's father, Jahangir Alam, filed a murder case with Madarganj Model Police Station against 22 people following the killings.
After investigation, police submitted a charge sheet against 14 people and recommended dropping the charges against the others for lack of evidence.
The court recorded testimony from 18 of 42 witnesses during the trial.
Jahangir Alam, the plaintiff in the case, expressed satisfaction with the verdict and urged the government to implement the sentences quickly.
The verdict had been postponed twice. Additional security measures were taken around the court premises ahead of Thursday's announcement.
Defence lawyers Aman Ullah Akash, Nawab Ali and Nazrul Islam represented the accused.