News Desk :
A Chattogram court has started the trial of seven suspects, including former Superintendent of Police Babul Akter, in a case over the murder of his wife, Mahmuda Akter Mitu, in 2016.
Witnesses started testifying on the case at the court of Judge Md Jashim Uddin of Chattogram Additional Metropolitan Session Judge Court-3 on Sunday. Mitu’s father, former police officer Mosharraf Hossain, was the first to testify.
Chattogram Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Md Abdur Rashid represented the state while lawyer Golam Mawla Murad represented Babul during the hearing, reports bdnews24.com
Babul’s legal team said they appealed to the High Court against the indictment and sought the court’s approval to defer the hearing until the end of Eid holidays. The state objected to their plea.
Both parties presented their arguments for about 45 minutes. Finally, Mosharraf Hossain began his testimony.
On Mar 13, the same court indicted the seven accused, including Babul Akter, and ordered the case to trial. Babul Akter, a police officer at the time, filed a case in 2016 after his wife Mitu was killed in a daylight attack. After many dramatic twists and turns, Babul himself became the key suspect in the case following an investigation by the Police Bureau of Investigation.
The other suspects in the case are Motaleb Mia alias Wasim, Anwar Hossain, Ehteshamul Haque Bhola, Shahjahan Mia, Kamrul Islam Shikdar Musa, and Khairul Islam.
Babul was brought to the court from prison for testimony on Sunday. Four of the other suspects were also brought to the court. Musa is at large while Bhola appeared to the court while out on bail.
Mitu was hacked and shot dead near the GEC Intersection in Chattogram on the morning of Jun 5, 2016, as she was taking her son to school. It happened a few days after Babul had joined the police headquarters in Dhaka, following a promotion and transfer.
After the murder that stirred the nation, Babul returned to Chattogram and filed a murder case against unknown suspects. Later he started living with his in-laws in Dhaka, taking his two children along with him.
Initially, Mitu’s father spoke in favour of Babul, he slowly began to suspect his involvement in his daughter’s killing. After a few months, the Detective Branch of the police quizzed Babul on the case.
After a series of dramatic events, Babul left the police force and started living in a separate house.
In the meantime, the DB police could not reach a conclusion after three and a half years of investigation into the case. A court then ordered to shift the case to PBI in January 2020.
In May 2021, the PBI said it found evidence that Mitu’s murder was ‘planned and ordered’ by Babul Akter. He paid the killers Tk 300,000 to kill his wife.
Mitu’s father filed another case after the PBI submitted its final investigation report. But the court dismissed that case and revived the case filed by Babul himself.
On Sept 13 last year, the PBI pressed charges against Babul and six others. The Chattogram Metropolitan Session Judge Court accepted the charges on Oct 10.
Chattogram Metropolitan Session Judge Jebun Nesa forwarded the case to the Chattogram Additional Metropolitan Session Judge Court-3 on Jan 31.