Court Correspondent :
The Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal of Dhaka yesterday sentenced six members of banned militant group Ansar al Islam to death for killing former USAID official Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy in April 2016.
The convicts are Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque alias sacked Major Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haq, Akram Hossain, Mozammel Hossain Saimon, Arafat Rahman Siam, Sheikh Abdullah alias Jubair and Asadullah alias Foyjul.
The court acquitted Sabbirul Haque Chowdhury and Junaid Ahmed alias Maulana Junayed Ahmed as the charges against them were not be proved.
Zia, Akram, Sabbirul and Junayed are on the run, while Mozammel, Arafat, Abdullah and Asadullah are behind the bar. The convicts were taken to the court on the occasion. Judge Md Majibur Rahman of the tribunal handed down the sentence in presence of the four convicted accused.
The punishment of the fugitives will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender, the judge added.
In the verdict, the judge observed there was no scope for showing mercy to the convicts.
Earlier, the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments and the tribunal recorded statements of 24 witnesses, including complainant of the case.
On April 25 of 2016, Xulhaz Mannan was hacked to death at his home in Dhaka’s Kalabagan area. His friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy was also killed.
Minhaz Mannan Emon, Xulhaz’s brother, filed the murder case with Kalabagan Police Station accusing unidentified assailants on the same day.
Inspector Muhammad Monirul Islam of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of police on July 23, 2019 submitted the charge sheet of the case to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka against eight activists of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam including sacked Major Zia, in the case.
During the investigation Mozammel, Arafat, Abdullah and Asadullah, who are behind bar gave confessional statements to the magistrates on different dates as per Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
On November 19, last year, the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal framed charges against the accused..
