A Cox’s Bazar court has concluded the second phase of witness testimony in the murder case of Maj (retd) Sinha Md Rashed Khan with the testimony and statement of the sixth witness on its fourth day.
Shahidul Islam gave his testimony in the court of District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Ismail from 10am to 2pm. Following the testimony and interrogation of the witness, the court fixed September 20 as the day to begin the third phase of the trial proceedings, confirmed Public Prosecutor (PP) Faridul Alam.
Earlier, 15 accused in the case were brought to the court from Cox's Bazar District Jail in a prison van under strict police surveillance at 9:30 am on Wednesday.
According to PP Faridul Alam, the court had issued notices to 15 of the 73 witnesses to testify in the first phase from August 23 to 25.
“Two more witnesses have appeared before the court till Wednesday in the second phase of the trial,” he added.
The plaintiff and one witness of the case testified in the first three days. The testimonies of two other witnesses were taken on the first and second day of the second phase of the trial on Sunday.
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On July 31 last year, Sinha was shot dead at the Shamlapur police check-post in Baharchhara Union of Cox's Bazar while returning to town after filming for a documentary.
On August 5, Sinha's sister, Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous, filed a case with Teknaf Senior Judicial Magistrate Court accusing nine members of law enforcement agencies of being involved in the killing, including Pradeep Kumar Das and Baharchhara police outpost inspector Liakat Ali.
On December 13, 2020, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) submitted a charge sheet against 15 people, including police source Ayaz and three APBn members, in connection with the case filed over Sinha's murder at a checkpost manned by APBn, where officers of the Teknaf police station intercepted Sinha's car.
All of the 15 accused in the chargesheet are currently in jail. Of them, 12 have given confessional statements before the court except for OC Pradeep Kumar Das, constable Sagar Dev and Rubel Sharma.
Other accused of the case are- Inspector of Baharchara Police outpost Liakat Ali, sub-inspectors Nandolal Rakkhit and Tutul, assistant sub-inspector Liton Mia; constables Shafanur Karim, Kamal Hossain, Abdullah AL Mamun, Md Rajib and Md Abdullah, ASI of APBN Md Shahjahan and Nurul Amin, Md Nizamuddin and Ayaz Uddin.
