Seven people, including local BNP leader Riaduzzaman Riad, have been sentenced to death for the murder of Masudur Rahman Shuvro, general secretary of Swechchha Sebok League in Mymensingh’s Gouripur.
Seven others have been sentenced to life in prison, and another five people, including current Gouripur Municipal Mayor Syed Rafiqul Islam, have been acquitted by Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Monir Kamal on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.
The death row convicts were identified as Md Riaduzzaman Riad, Khairul Islam, Sakib Ahmed Reza, Mozammel Haque, Md Moin Uddin, Shariful Islam Nayeem and Ruhul Amin. Each of them has also been fined Tk 20,000.
The suspects were in court to hear the verdict.
The convicts in the dock and their families broke down in tears when the verdict was read.
Shuvro, the chairman of UCCA Limited, ran for Gouripur municipal mayor in 2020. He was hacked to death in the municipality on Oct 17.
Suvro’s brother Abidur Rahman, the plaintiff in the murder case, said he was not satisfied by the verdict.
He claimed that Syed Rafiqul Islam was the mastermind of the attack and condemned the acquittal of Rafiqul and his two brothers, Syed Toufiqul Islam and Syed Mazharul Islam.
He said he would appeal the verdict.
State lawyer Mahbubur Rahman said he was not completely satisfied with the verdict either and that there was enough evidence against Rafiqul and his two brothers to convict them.
The convicts in the dock claimed that they were falsely accused just because they were poor and had little recourse while the true culprits were escaping justice.