Ahsanullah killing: Plea seeks stay on acquittal of 11 accused

The government filed a petition with the Supreme Court today seeking a stay on the acquittal of 11 accused in Awami League lawmaker Ahsanullah Master killing case.

Ahsanullah Master

The stay petition was submitted so that the 11 accused who were acquitted by the HC cannot be released from jail after the full verdict is released, Masud Hassan added.

The government will move regular leave-to-appeal petition before the apex court challenging a portion of the HC verdict that acquitted 11 persons of the murder charge, he said.

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The HC on that day confirmed the death penalty of six persons, including a central Jubo Dal leader, for killing Ahsanullah Master, a decade after a trial court sentenced 22 people to death and six others to life term for the 2004 murder.

The HC commuted capital punishment of seven others to life imprisonment, upheld life term of two and acquitted 11 of the charges against them. It disposed of the appeals of two others as they died during the trial of the much-talked-about political killing.

Gunmen killed Ahsanullah, a freedom fighter, and Omar Faruq Ratan, a student, in a staccato burst of fire on a rally of Swechchhasebak League, a pro-AL body, at Noagaon near the MP's house in Tongi on May 7, 2004.