A Cox's Bazar court has ordered the death penalty for former officer-in-charge of Teknaf police Pradeep Kumar Das and former sub-inspector Liaqat Ali for the planned murder of former SSF member Major (retd) Sinha Md Rashed Khan at a checkpoint in the beach town in 2020.
Monday afternoon, District and Sessions Judge Court Judge Mohammad Ismail also ordered life imprisonment for six others for aiding the murder.
They are former SI Nanda Dulal Rakshit, former ASI Sagar Deb, former constable Rubel Sharma, and police informants Nurul Amin, Nezam Uddin and Ayaz Uddin.
The judge acquitted seven others, including Armed Police Battalion (APBn) members SI Shahjahan Ali, constable Md Rajib and Md Abdullah, in the presence of the accused in a packed courtroom. Hundreds of people waiting outside were demanding the highest punishment for the killers.
Four members of Baharchhara police outpost – constable Safanul Karim, Kamal Hossain, Liton Mia and constable Abdullah Al Mamun – were acquitted of the charges against them.
‘Liaqat fired four shots’
The court started reading out observations of the verdict at around 2:25pm. It said that it had been proved beyond doubt that the victim was killed in a planned manner.
In his observation, the judge said that Liaqat fired four shots at Sinha, who had his hands up and was leaning to the front at the check-post.
Liaqat in his statement said Pradeep had asked him to act against Sinha. After the shooting, Pradeep arrived at the scene and kicked the body to ensure that Sinha was dead.
Nanda Dulal in his statement said that Liaqat had asked his subordinates to stop the silver car.
Sinha had his hands up and was bending towards the vehicle. At that time, Liaqat fired four rounds.
Arriving at the scene, Pradeep said that he had managed to capture Sinha after much trouble and kicked Sinha hard on the left side of his chest. Sinha looked as if he was losing control of his body at that point.
Nanda Dulal prepared a list of items seized from the scene. He said that he did exactly what Pradeep had asked him to do.
The court in its observation said that all these proved Liaqat and Dulal’s direct involvement in the incident.
Apart from this, Pradeep broke his promise of rewarding informants Nurul Amin, Mohammad Ayaj and Nezam Uddin with Tk5 lakh each.
The reward was promised as part of the plot to kill Sinha after an announcement was made through the loudspeaker of a nearby mosque, labelling Sinha as a robber, the court said.
Earlier, all but Pradeep and constable Rubel Sharma gave confessional statements in court.
The murder and the trial process
Major (retd) Sinha, an ex-student of Jahangirnagar University, was shot dead at the Shamlapur check-post under Teknaf Upazila on the night of July 31, 2020.
Two of his compatriots, both students of Stamford University working on documentaries with Sinha, were arrested for questioning. They were accused in two cases started by the police over Sinha’s death and alleged recovery of drugs.
Sinha's sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous filed another case against nine policemen, including Pradeep and Liaqat, on August 5, six days after the killing.
The court took cognizance of the case and assigned the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to investigate the murder.
After Sinha’s death, the police said they had fired in self-defence when Sinha brandished a pistol at the law enforcers after obstructing a search of his vehicle at the checkpoint at Shamlapur along the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive.
After the investigation, RAB-15 Cox's Bazar Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Khairul Islam submitted the charge sheet against 15 people on December 13, 2020.
On June 27, 2021, the court indicted the accused in the case.
From August 23 to December 1 last year, some 65 out of 83 witnesses testified in eight phases while the accused testified in court on December 6 and 7.
The judicial proceedings came to an end when the lawyers of both parties presented arguments in the case from January 9 to 12.
