12 get life for killing Bagerhat BCL man

A court here yesterday sentenced 12 people to life imprisonment for killing a Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activist in Sadar upazila of the district in 2006.

The lifers are Nuru Shiekh, Abdus Sattar Sheikh, Razzak Sheik, Lablu Sheikh, Nazrul Sheikh, Shawkat Sheikh, Abdul Kader Sheikh, Kamrul Sheikh, Ziaul Sheikh, Sheikh Tipu Sultan, Hossain Sheikh and Sheikh Faruk.

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Judge Khan Mizanur Rahman of the District and Sessions Judge's Court fined the convicts Tk 10 thousand each. In default, they are to suffer one year more in jail.

The victim, Arif Hasan Raju of Jatrapur village under the upazila was an activist of BCL Jatrabari union unit.

According to the prosecution, On September 4, 2006, the convicts picked up Raju, son of Nur Islam Sheikh, from in front of Lutfur Sheikh's house   where an extended meeting of BCL union unit over formation of the committee of ward No 3 was going on. Raju was one of the candidates for the post of president of the ward unit.

They took Raju to a place in the union, hit him with sticks and a hammer and then strangled him.

The following day, Raju 's father Nur Islam filed a murder case with Bagerhat Model Police Station, accusing 12 named and three to four unnamed people.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Habibur Rahman of the police station pressed charges against 15 people on January 21, 2007.

After examining the witnesses and documents, Judge Khan Mizanur Rahman pronounced the verdict. He acquitted three accused--Talimuzzaman, Russel and Mizanur Rahman--as charges brought against them could not be proved.

Nur Islam Sheikh yesterday claimed that his son Raju was killed as a sequel to a land dispute in the union. Political feud was not the key issue behind the killing, he added.