A Dhaka court has set Wednesday for delivery of the verdict in the case filed over the murder of Dhaka University teacher, intellectual and writer Professor Humayun Azad.
On March 27, Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Al-Mamun set the date after hearing concluding arguments in the case.
The accused are Salehin alias Salahuddin, Anwarul Alam alias Anwar, Mizanur Rahman alias Minhaz and Nur Mohammad, all members of the banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Altogether 41 out of 58 witnesses, including the investigation officer, have testified before the court in the case.
On February 27, 2004, the 56-year-old Humayun Azad was stabbed by militants on the Bangla Academy premises while he was returning from the Ekushey Book Fair.
His brother Monjur Kabir filed a case over an attempt to murder with Ramna Police Station the next day.
After the attack, Prof Azad was admitted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the capital, and later he was shifted to another hospital in Bangkok in Thailand.
He was then shifted to Munich, Germany, for advanced treatment. He died there on August 12, 2004.
CID Inspector and Investigation Officer Lutfur Rahman submitted a charge sheet on April 30, 2012, against five JMB militants, Mizanur Rahman alias Minhaz, Anwarul Alam alias Anwar, Salehin alias Salahuddin, Hafiz Mahmud and Nur Mohammad alias Sabu.
Among them, Salauddin and Nur Mohammad are on the run while Hafiz died of natural causes, leading to his name being dropped from the case.
Minhaz and Anwar are in jail and have already made confessional statements.
