Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
The jail authorities already have prepared two panels for execution of Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJi) Chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and his two aides Sharif Shahedul Bipul and Delwar alias Ripon in Gazipur and Sylhet respectively, jail sources said.
They claimed that the execution of the militants is only a time of matter as all preparation has been finished.
Separate rehearsals have completed in Kashimpur High Security and Sylhet Central Jails to hang the militants, they added,
The law enforcers heightened the security measures in the jail areas to avert any untoward situation, said our local correspondents quoting the Police.
Family members of Mufti Abdul Hannan and his associate Sharif Shahedul Bipul have been asked to meet them at jail.
Meanwhile, the jail authorities on Tuesday sent separate letters to the families of Mufti Hannan in Gopalganj district, said Mizanur Rahman, Jail Superintendent of Kashimpur Central Jail Gazipur. However, no specific date was mentioned in the letter for the meetings. After receiving the letter, family members of Hannan were staying near the Kashimpur Jail to meet with him for the last chance around 10:00pm, he said.
According to Rahman, another HuJI leader Sharif Shahedul Bipul’s family was coming to the Kashimpur Jail following a letter of the jail authorities. Gazipur Superintendent of Police (SP) Harun Ar Rashid said he visited the jail area to observe security measures.
Security steps have been strengthened to avoid the emergency, the SP said. Earlier, the family members of militant Delwar alias Ripon met with him at Sylhet Central Jail on Tuesday afternoon, said Md Sagir Mia, the jail super. He said they have taken all preparations to execute him. Also, the jail authorities have completed all necessary preparations to execute the two HuJi men as their mercy petitions were rejected by President Abdul Hamid. The rejected mercy petition of another death-row convict Delwar alias Ripon reached Sylhet Central Jail on Tuesday morning. On March 19, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence of Mufti Hannan, Delwar alias Ripon and Sharif Shahedul Alam alias Bipul after hearing the review petitions filed by the three death-row convicts. It released the full text of its verdict on March 21. Among them, Mufti Hannan and Sharif Shahedul Alam alias Bipul are kept at Kashimpur Central Jail while Delwar alias Ripon is in Sylhet Central Jail. On December 7, 2016, an SC Bench, headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha, upheld the death penalty of the three in the case rejecting appeals filed by the HuJi Chief and Bipul challenging the High Court verdict that had upheld their death sentence awarded by the tribunal. In 2004, the then British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury came under a grenade attack while coming out of Hazrat Shahjalal’s shrine in his hometown Sylhet. The envoy and 40 employees of Sylhet district administration were injured in the attack.
Educated at madrasas, Mufti Hannan hails from Gopalganj and is infamous for being one of the initiators of militant activities in Bangladesh. He is said to be the mastermind of 13 terrorist attacks, including an attempt on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life.
He faces trial for planting a bomb made with 76kg of explosives near the venue of a public rally addressed by Hasina at Kotalipara in 2000. Mufti Hannan has been sentenced to death for the 2001 bombings at Dhaka’s Ramna Park on the Bengali New Year.
