Court Correspondent :
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday asked the concerned officials of the High Court to prepare the paper book on Kotalipara bomb recovery case filed on the charge of attempt to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on priority basis for quickly settling the death reference and appeals.
The book is necessary for the HC to hear and dispose of a death reference or an appeal.
The High Court’s Additional Registrar Sabbir Faiz told newsmen that the Chief Justice would assign a High Court Bench to hear the death reference and appeals of the case filed for attempting to kill Sheikh Hasina after the paper book would reach the court. Sabbir Faiz further said the paper book of the case might be prepared within a month.
The death reference of the case reached the HC last week for examining the trial court verdict that sentenced 10 persons to death. When a trial court sentences any person to death, the documents of the case and the copy of the verdict is sent to the HC in seven days after its pronouncement.
Earlier on August 20, 10 persons were awarded death penalty for attempting to assassinate the then PM Sheikh Hasina planting 76kg bomb in Kotalipara of Gopalganj in 2000. The trial court also sentenced one person to life term imprisonment and three others to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment. Ten other persons were, however, acquitted as charges brought against them were not proved.
Among the 14 convicts, nine were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for making the bombs. The convicts are Wasim Akter alias Tarek, Md Rashed Driver alias Abul Kalam, Md Yusuf Alias Moshat Morol, Md Sheikh Farid alias Maulana Shawkat Osman, Hafej Zahangir Alam Badar, Maulana Abu Bakar alias Hafej Selim Howlader, Hafej Maulana Yahia, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hye and Maulana Abdur Rauf alias Abdur Razzaque.
The 76kg bomb was recovered at the Sheikh Lutfor Rahman Ideal College under Kotalipara upazila in Gopalganj on July 21 in 2000 which was planted aiming to kill the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was supposed to address a rally there the next day.
