The High Court has commuted the death sentences for Maulana Taj Uddin and Jewel to life imprisonment in the 2001 Ramna Batamul bomb attack case.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akhter on Tuesday also reduced the sentences of nine other convicts to 10 years’ imprisonment each, along with a fine of Tk50,000, following the hearing of the death reference and appeals in the case.
Earlier, in relation to the bomb attack during Chhayanaut’s Bangla New Year celebration at Ramna Batamul, the High Court had kept the case pending for a verdict (CAV – Curia Advisari Vult) after completing hearings from both the defence and prosecution sides on 18 February.
Senior lawyers SM Shahjahan and Sarwar Ahmed, along with Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir, represented the accused in court. Deputy Attorney General Sultana Akter Ruby represented the state.
On 23 June 2014, Judge Ruhul Amin of Dhaka’s Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court delivered the verdict in the much-discussed Ramna Batamul bombing case.
In its ruling, the court sentenced eight people to death, including banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI) top leader Mufti Abdul Hannan and Maulana Taj Uddin, brother of BNP leader and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu. Six others were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Each convict sentenced to death was also fined Tk50,000. In default of payment, they were to serve an additional year in prison.
The convicts appealed against this verdict in the High Court.
Besides Mufti Abdul Hannan, the other death row convicts were: Maulana Taj Uddin, Maulana Akbar Hossain, Mufti Abdul Hai, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badr, Maulana Abu Bakar alias Hafez Selim Hawlader, Mufti Shafiqul Rahman, and Maulana Arif Hasan Sumon.
Among them, Mufti Abdul Hannan was executed in a separate case.
Those sentenced to life imprisonment were: Hafez Maulana Abu Taher, Maulana Sabbir alias Abdul Hannan Sabbir, Hafez Maulana Yahia, Maulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Maulana Abdur Rouf, and Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel.
Later, on 8 January 2017, the hearing on the death reference and appeals began in the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim.
The date for final arguments was then fixed for 14 March of the same year.
However, the case was later removed from the cause list.
The case was subsequently transferred to the High Court bench of Justice Md Ruhul Quddus and Justice ASM Abdul Mobin, where it remained for a long time without a hearing.
Notably, on 14 April 2001, during a Bangla New Year celebration organized by the cultural group Chhayanaut at Ramna Batamul, a bomb attack by the banned militant group HuJI killed 10 people and injured many others.
Two cases, one for murder and another under the Explosives Act, were filed in connection with the incident.
Later, on 29 November 2008, the CID submitted two supplementary charge sheets against 14 people, including HuJI leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, under the murder and explosives laws.
After prolonged proceedings, the trial in the murder case concluded in the lower court.
