News Desk :
A tribunal in Dhaka on Wednesday sentenced eight members of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Al Islam including sacked Major Syed Ziaul Hoque over the killing of Jagriti Publications publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan.
Judge of Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Tribunal Md Mujibur Rahman handed down the verdict.
The tribunal also fined the convicts Tk 50,000 each, reports UNB.
The other convicts are-Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Sifat alias Samir alias Imran, Md Abdus Sabur alias Abdus Samad alias Sujan alias Raju alias Sad, Khairul Islam alias Jamil alias Rifat alias Fahim alias Jisan, Md Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sakib alias Sajid alias Shahab, Mozammel Hossain alias Saimon alias Shashriar, Md Sheikh Abdullah alias Jubayer alias Jayed alias Javed, and Akram Hossain alias Hasib alias Abir alias Adnan alias Abdullah.
Major Ziaul Hoque, also known as Sagar alias Istikhakh alias Borobhai, was dismissed from Bangladesh Army.
Among the convicts, six have been languishing in jail, while two others-Sayed Ziaul Hoque and Akram Hossain-have been have been absconding since the killing incident.
On October 13, 2019, the tribunal framed charges against the militants.
On October 30, 2018, the charge-sheet in the case was sent to the Home Ministry for approval before submission to the court as the case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Publisher Dipan, son of Prof Abul Kashem Fazlul Huq of Dhaka University, was hacked to death in his office on the second floor of Aziz Supermarket at Shahbagh in the city on October 31, 2015.
A case was filed with Shahbagh Police Station the following day and later it was transferred to the Detective Branch. Police on November 15,2019, pressed charges against the eight militants in the case.
