A Dhaka court on Wednesday set June 27 as the date to pronounce its verdict on the much-talked-about journalist Gautam Das murder case.
Gautam, 33, Faridpur bureau chief of the Dainik Samakal, was murdered by assailants in his office on November 17, 2005.
Hasanuzzaman, Faridpur district correspondent of the national daily, filed a murder case with the Faridpur Kotwali police station the next day.
Speedy trial tribunal-1 Judge Shahed Nur Uddin recorded the closing arguments on Wednesday and set the date for the verdict.
The court also cancelled the bail of seven of the accused issued earlier, and ordered authorities to send them to the jail.
The seven are: Kazi Md Murad, Md Siddiqur Rahman, Md Tamjid Hossain Babu, Md Asif Imtiaz Bulu, Md Kamrul Islam, Md Rajib Hasan Mona, and Md Asad Bin Kadir.
The primary accused in the case, Asif Imran, is currently in jail. The court issued an arrest warrant against Abu Taher Murtaza, alias Apollo, who absconded after being granted bail from the high court. Zahid Khan, another accused, already died.
Investigation officer (IO) of the case, Golam Nabi, who is the sub inspector of the Faridpur Kotwali police station, pressed charges against the accused in January 2006. The judge of Faridpur district and session judge’s court took cognizance of the charge sheet on the same day.
Three of the accused – Asad Bin Kadir, Abu Taher Murtaza and Tamjid Hossain Babu – gave confessional statements before the court, admitting their involvement with the murder under section 164 of the Bangladesh penal code.
In the charge sheet, the IO said the national daily ran a news item on corruption and irregularities in the repair work of a road in Faridpur, which infuriated the accused, leading to Gautam’s planned murder.
The solicitor wing of the ministry of law transferred the case to Dhaka speedy tribunal court-1 after one year, in August 2006.
An accused, Siddiqur Rahman, filed a writ petition to the high court challenging the legality of the transfer of the case in November 2007. However, the apex court rejected the petition.
The court has examined a total of 27 prosecution witnesses so far.
