A Sylhet court on Thursday acquitted Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury, former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar, Habiganj-3 MP and Whip GK Gous, and six others in a case over an attempted killing of late Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta, while sentencing one accused to death.
Judge Swapan Kumar Sarkar of the Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal delivered the verdict.
Syed Naim Ahmed alias Nimu, a resident of Syedpur Pashchimpara Lombahati village in Jagannathpur upazila of Sunamganj, was sentenced to death and fined Tk100,000.
Confirming the verdict, Public Prosecutor Abul Hossain said the court acquitted all other accused after examining witness testimonies and evidence. Of the 123 listed witnesses, 67 testified before the court.
The acquitted accused include Muhib Ullah alias Mofizur Rahman (Mofiz), Mufti Moin Uddin alias Abu Jandal (Masum Billah alias Khaza), Abdul Majed Butt (Yusuf Butt), Naziun Rahman alias Nazmul Haque Nazu and Maulana Taj Uddin, who remains absconding.
According to case details, a grenade attack took place on June 21, 2004, during a political rally at Dirai Bazar in Sunamganj, within Suranjit Sengupta’s constituency. Sengupta, who was the chief guest at the program, narrowly escaped the attack. One Jubo League activist was killed and at least 29 others were injured.
Following the incident, then Sub-Inspector Helal Uddin of Dirai Police Station filed two cases—one for murder and another under the Explosives Act—against unidentified persons.
Charges were framed on October 22, 2020, against 10 individuals, including Babar, Ariful Haque Chowdhury and GK Gaus. Later, Maulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, a convicted death-row inmate in the 21 August grenade attack case and a leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh, died while undergoing treatment in November 2021 and was dropped from the case.
Court sources said that of the nine-remaining accused, five were in jail, three were on bail and one was absconding. All except the absconding accused were present in court during the verdict, which was delivered in a packed courtroom amid tight security.
Earlier in the day, Ariful Haque Chowdhury, Lutfuzzaman Babar and GK Gous appeared before the court.
Reacting to the verdict, Ariful, Gous and Babar said they were implicated due to political vendetta and expressed satisfaction with the judgment.
Syed Maruf Ahmed, brother of convicted Syed Naim Ahmed, said the family was not satisfied with the verdict and would appeal to a higher court.
The verdict brings to an end a 22-year-long legal process in one of Sylhet’s most high-profile political violence cases.
