A Dhaka court on Thursday sentenced 10 activists of the outlawed Islamic outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to death for the involvement in the suicide bombing at Gazipur Bar Association office in 2005, leaving eight people killed. Judge Mohammad Motahar Hossain of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 announced the verdict in presence of the convicts after examining the records and 70 witnesses.
The condemned convicts are Enayetullah alias Walid, Arifur Rahman, Mushidul Islam alias Masud, Saidur Rahman Munshi, Abdullah Al-Sohail, Nizamuddin Reza, Taiubur Rahman alias Hasan, Ashraful Islam, Shafiullah alias Tareq, and Adnan Sami alias Jahangir.
JMB activist Asad had blown himself up at hall-2 of Gazipur district Bar association office, leaving three dead on the spot while others died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), on Nov 29, 2005, after he entered the building dressed in a lawyer’s gown.
The bombing killed Asad and lawyers Amzad Hossain, Golam Faruque, Nurul Huda and Anwarul Azim and their clients Abdur Raub, Basir Uddin, Marzina Akhter and Shamsul Haque. Sub-Inspector of Joydebpur Police Station Alamgir Hossain filed a case after the incident on the day. Later, Ismail Hossain, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of CID and also the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, submitted a charge sheet on July 4, 2007, accusing 15 JMB activists.
Six leaders accused of abetment in the 2005 Gazipur suicide bombing have been earlier hanged on Mar 29, 2007, for murdering two judges – Sohel Ahmed Chowdhury and Jagannath Para.
They were all top JMB leaders – Shaikh Abdur Rahman, Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai, Ataur Rahman Sani, Khaled Saifullah, Iftekhar Hasan Mamun, and Abdul Awal. In January last year, the case was transferred from Gazipur court to Dhaka Speedy Trials Tribunal.
-With The Independent input
