The Speedy Trial Tribunal 4 of Dhaka is set to deliver verdict in Zubair Ahmed murder case today, more than three years after killing of the Jahangirnagar University honours final year student on the campus by some activists of Chhatra League.
The trial began on November 18, 2013 with the deposition of the plaintiff, Hamidur Rahman, then deputy registrar of the university. The court recorded depositions of 27 out of 37 prosecution witnesses including the investigation officer in the case.
Judge ABM Nizamul Haque of the tribunal reserved today for the verdict after completing arguments in the case on January 28.
Of the 13 accused in the case – all leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League’s student wing – seven are in jail. Of the others, four fled from the courtroom on February 23 last year after their bails had been cancelled while two others remained absent during the proceedings.
Their bails were cancelled for assaulting several friends of Zubair who had gone to the court to witness the proceedings on January 19. On the day, one of the victims Nazmul Islam filed a general diary with Kotwali police.
They all were given conditional bail from the High Court.
Zubair, a former Chhatra League activist, succumbed to his injuries on January 9, 2012 at United Hospital in the city. He was beaten and stabbed indiscriminately the previous afternoon on the campus by the accused and their aides. The killers first took him to Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar and left him there with severe injuries.
Following the incident, the university authorities filed a murder case with Ashulia police.
On January 30 the same year, seven of the accused were expelled from the university for life, while six others suspended for two years after the authorities found their direct involvement in the murder.
Among the accused, those expelled for life are Khandaker Ashikul Islam, Khan Md Rois and Md Zahid Hasan of zoology department; Md Rashedul Islam Raju and Ishtiak Mehbub Arup of philosophy; Mahbub Akram of government and politics; and Nazmus Sakib Tanu of biochemistry and molecular biology department.
The six others are Md Mazharul Islam and Md Mahmudul Hasan Masud of history department; Md Kamruzzaman Shohag of philosophy; Shafiul Alam Shetu and Abhinandan Kundu of statistics; and Md Nazmul Hussain Plabon of the public administration department.
Two of the accused – Akram and Tanu – gave confessional statements before magistrates admitting their involvement in beating up Zubair along with the other accused. They claimed that Zubair had been tortured over previous enmity with Ashik and Raju.
On April 8, 2012, then sub-inspector and also investigation officer of the case Mir Shaheen Shah Parvez submitted the charge sheet accusing the 13 students.
Later Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Ismail Hossain sent the case record to Dhaka District and Session’s Judges Court for trial. On March 12, District and Session’s Judge Abdul Mazid took the charge sheet into cognisance. The case transferred to the Speedy Trial Tribunal 4 on August 18.
The accused were indicted on September 8, 2013. The court completed recording depositions of the prosecution witness on November 27 last year.
Since the incident, the accused have allegedly been backed by former vice-chancellor Shariff Enamul Kabir to complete graduation despite the expulsion orders. He was forced to resign the same year following mass protests by students and teachers.
Some of the six fugitive accused reportedly roam on the campus and the capital freely while some of them are active on Facebook. However, police claim that they cannot find the accused.
According to his Facebook update, Rois is now staying in Denmark. Another accused Masud was sacked from his job at the university recently. He was appointed as a computer operator in early 2013.
