A Dhaka court on Tuesday sentenced 10 people to death for the murder of a pharmacy owner in Nandail upazila of Mymensingh district 12 years ago.
Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 Judge Abu Zafar Md Kamruzzaman has delivered the verdict. Seven other suspects were acquitted as their involvement in the crime could not be proved, reports bdnews24.com.
According to the case dossier, drug store owner Mazharul Islam Paltan died from blows to his head and forehead at shop at some point between Feb 28 and Mar 1, 2017.
The assailants later locked up the shop with Paltan's body inside.
Paltan's sister Beauty Akhter later started a case over the incident with Nandail police on March 1. Police subsequently filed charges against 18 suspects on Jan 31, 2008.
Two suspects in the case -- Ruma Akhter and Faruk Miah -- gave confessional statements to the court but they went into hiding after securing bail, said the state's Special Counsel Abu Abdullah Bhuiyan.
"According to the statements, Ruma was a sex worker who had engaged in sexual activities with the suspects in Paltan's shop on the night of the incident.
But when they refused to pay Ruma for her services, she started putting pressure on Paltan for the money," said Abdullah.
"But Paltan didn't agree to it so an altercation broke out between the two. The suspects got involved at one point and beat Paltan to death.
Police had originally pressed charges against 18 people but one of the suspects died during the proceedings so his name was dropped from the case.
The court reached the verdict after recording testimonies of 30 witnesses in the case.
Plaintiff Beauty expressed satisfaction with the decision but the defence lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
