5 get life imprisonment for journalist Balu murder

Five people have been sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the bomb attack which killed journalist Humayun Kabir Balu.

After 16 years of the murder, Special Tribunal Judge Md Saifuzzaman Hero gave the verdict on Monday. The convicted were also fined Tk10,000 each.

The convicts are leader of East Bengal Communist Party ML-People's War Syed Iqbal Hossain Swadhin, Nazrul Islam alias Khora Nazu, Masum alias Jahangir (fugitive), Rimon alias Asaduzzaman, and Zahid Hossain alias Sabuj alias Zahidur Rahman.On June 27, 2004, Ekushey Padak awardee, former president of Khulna Press Club and editor of Dainik Janmabhoomi Humayun Kabir Balu was killed in a bomb attack in front of his office-cum-residence at Haji Ismail Road in Khulna city.

Later, Inspector Abdul Hamid of DB of KMP submitted the charge sheet accusing eight operatives of Purba Bangla Biplobi Communist Party. 

On February 13, 2008, the then judge of the Speedy Trial Tribunal, Mohammad Abdus Salam Sikder, acquitted all the accused in the case of journalist Balu's murder.

The acquitted accused were head of the East Bengal Communist Party ML-People's War Abdul Rashid Malitha alias Dada Tapan, Syed Iqbal Hossain Swadhin, Zahidur Rahman alias Sabuj, Rimon, Nazrul Islam alias Khora Nazu, Nazim Uddin, and Masum.

The judge also mentioned the submission of a weak police report.

Meanwhile, on April 15, 2009, state lawyer Enamul Haque applied to the court for further investigation into the explosives case.

He said in the petition that the case needed further investigation in the interest of justice as there was a wide discrepancy between the two--murder and explosives--cases.

On April 20, 2009, Judge Mohammad Sekandar Ali ordered a further investigation into the case. The case was sent to the CID for further investigation after a hearing in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on May 10. The investigating officer received the case documents on June 7.

After several years on December 31, 2015, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Md Shahadat Hossain submitted the supplementary charge sheet.

The case was handled by Public Prosecutor Arif Mahmud Liton while SM Manzur Ahmed and Chowdhury Touhidur Rahman Tushar stood for the accused.