Court Correspondent :
State lawyer Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Abu Abdullah Bhuiyan yesterday submitted arguments for the second day in the BUET student Abrar Fahad murder case.
Judge Abu Zafar Md Kamruzzaman of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 of Dhaka heard the arguments. Later, Abu Abdullah said, their argument submission will be completed on September 20.
Earlier, of the 46 prosecution witnesses, 36 testified in the case and their evidences with other materials were examined. Of the 25 accused, 22, on September 8, claimed themselves not guilty and sought justice to the court for the second time, the SPP added.
On the day the court framed charges against the 25 accused for the second time. On the occasion, other three accused could not get the chance to claim themselves not guilty under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as they are on the run.
On October 7, last year, Abrar, a second-year student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), was beaten to death by several BCL men in the university’s Sher-e-Bangla Hall.
On November 13, last year, Inspector Mohammad Wahiduzaman of Detective Branch, and also the Investigation Officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet of the case in the CMM Court of Dhaka.
Of the 25 accused, 17 are members of the BUET BCL unit. Most of them had been expelled from the pro-Awami League student organization. Meanwhile, BUET suspended 19 of the accused.
Eleven of the 25 accused allegedly directly took part in the killing and struck Abrar with cricket stumps, skipping rope and slapped him for hours, leading to his death, according to the investigators of the case.
The 14 others abetted the killing either by instigating it or calling Abrar to the room where he was tortured, or by carrying the unconscious victim to another room and finally to the staircase, they added.
Many took to social media claiming justice in connection with the incident. In the face of protests, the BUET authorities banned all political activities on the campus in October.
On October 7, Abrar’s father Barkatullah filed a murder case against 19 BUET students with Chawkbazar Police Station of the city. All have been included in the charge-sheet of the case.
Eight of the accused made confessional statements in the magistrate courts narrating the horrifying torture. Sixty people have been made prosecution witnesses in the case.
