NN Online:
The High Court has set 13 May to deliver the complete verdict on whether to uphold the sentences handed to the convicts in the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombing case.
A bench comprising Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasrin Akter began reading out the verdict on 8 May. The court announced that the judgment would be concluded and the final decision on the sentences declared on 13 May.
On 23 June 2014, a Dhaka trial court sentenced eight people—including Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan and Maulana Tajuddin—to death. Six others received life imprisonment. The convicted individuals later appealed to the High Court.
The bombing occurred on 14 April 2001 during Chhayanaut’s Pahela Baishakh celebration at Ramna Batamul, killing ten people. Sergeant Amal Chandra Chand filed two cases that same day under charges of murder and use of explosives.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted charge sheets against 14 people on 30 November 2008. After years of trial proceedings, the murder case verdict was delivered in 2014. The High Court has since been reviewing death references and appeals.
While the murder case is nearing a conclusion, the explosives case remains pending at Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal No. 1.
Among the eight sentenced to death, Mufti Hannan has already been executed in connection with a separate grenade attack case in Sylhet.
