The trial for 10 year old schoolboy Abdus Salam’s murder, is yet to make any significant progress, although so many years have passed since the incident took place in 2005.
The sensational murder case is pending at the Second Additional District and Sessions Judges Court in Dhaka due to the frequent non appearance of witnesses in this sensational case.
Court sources say prosecution witnesses have not been appearing in court for their depositions for quite some time, though the court has issued arrest warrants for them. Even the police have failed to produce the witnesses leaving the trial pending in court.
For a speedy conclusion of the case, the High Court directed the trial court to dispose of the case within six months on March 13, 2013. The time frame given by the high court has expired but the trial has seen no significant progress.
According to the case statement, schoolboy Abdus Salam, 10, died in a bomb blast in front of his home in Sobujbagh of Savar in the outskirts of Dhaka. The August 17, 2005, bombing is attributed to the banned militant group, Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
After the incident, the victim’s father Ramjan Ali, filed a case with Savar police station.
On July 13, 2006, Sub Inspector Nasiruddin of Savar police station submitted a charge sheet to the court accusing 13 JMB men including Rafiqul Islam, Ataur Rahman Sanny, Anwar Hossain, and Hafiz Billah.
On July 2, 2008, the court indicted the 13 militants and the trial against the accused started on June 4, 2009. Since then the court has recorded the depositions of only 11 out of 25 prosecution witnesses in the case.
Lastly, on October 31, 2013, the court recorded the deposition of a witness but since then no witness has appeared before the court to provide a deposition in the case.
“We also want to dispose of the case but the case trial is being delayed due to the non-appearance of witnesses,” defence counsel Advocate Faruk Ahamed told Dhaka Tribune.
Talking to this correspondent, Shakila Jaismin Mitu, public prosecutor of the Second Additional District and Sessions Judges Court said: “We are trying to dispose of the case but the witnesses are not appearing for depositions despite summons and arrest warrants being issued. What can we do if a witness does not come to court for a deposition?”
