75 BNP men sentenced to 30 months RI

Court Correspondent :
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court of Dhaka on Thursday sentenced 75 BNP leaders and activists to 30 months’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) each in a case filed over blasting crude bombs, vandalizing vehicles, assaulting law enforcers and preventing them from performing their duties in the capital’s Uttara Paschim area in November 2013.

Dhaka North Jubo Dal unit former President SM Jahangir Hossain was among the sentenced BNP men.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Hasibul Haque of Dhaka handed down the sentence in presence of Jahangir Hossain and two others.

Seventy-two others were declared fugitives and the court issued conviction warrants against them, Additional Public Prosecutor M Maniruzzaman told the media.

The punishment of the fugitives will be effective from the date of their arrest or surrender, said the court in his judgment.

The court acquitted two other accused as charges against them were not proved.

Meanwhile, defense lawyer Sayed Nazrul Islam expressed his dissatisfaction about the verdict.

He told the media that only six witnesses testified in court and none mentioned the name of his client, Jahangir, yet he was convicted. “We will challenge the verdict with the higher court,” he added.