Seven-murder chargesheet contains 'flaws', says High Court

The High Court has found the chargesheet filed in the Narayanganj seven-murder case to be ‘flawed’, something the plaintiff has all along claimed.

Justice M Enayetur Rahim made the observation on Tuesday after a hearing on a petition by complainant Selina Islam Beauty demanding further investigation.
 
Justice Amir Hossain is the other judge on the bench hearing the case.
 
Although the High Court pointed to shortcomings in the chargesheet, it stressed the case must not be allowed to drag on the pretext of further investigation.
 
The next hearing will be held coming Sunday, when both sides will present their arguments on the scope for more investigation after the chargesheet had been filed.
 
In April 2014, Narayanganj City Corporation councillor Nazrul Islam and his four associates along with senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar and his driver were abducted and killed.
 
Narzrul’s widow Beauty had filed a case accusing another councillor Nur Hossain and six others.
 
Nazrul’s family also alleged that several RAB officers, too, were involved in the murders.
 
About a year later, on Apr 8, the Detective Branch of police submitted the chargesheet in court, accusing 35 people, including Nur Hossain and the dismissed RAB officers.
 
But the document had dropped the names of five people named in the initial complaint.

Beauty rejected the chargesheet on the grounds that it named Nur Hossain but ignored the others she had accused. She had filed an objection with a Naryanganj court but her plea had been dismissed.

She then appealed to the High Court on Nov 23. It heard the petition on Nov 29 and fixed Dec 1 for another hearing.

Her lawyer Abdul Baset Mazumder on Tuesday told the High Court that names mentioned in the complaint should have been in the chargesheet. But police had retained some names, but dropped others.

“The mastermind of the killings was not in the country during the investigations. The government has now brought him back. More new information may be known during his interrogation. Hence, we are seeking further investigation," Mazumder said.

Nur Hossain had fled to India soon after the murders but was brought back following an understanding between the two countries recently.

Justice Enayetur Rahim wanted to know if there was any precedence where a person accused in the chargesheet has been taken on remand for interrogation and a supplementary chargesheet filed.

“It’s a huge case. If the trial gets delayed in an effort to achieve everything, those being held in prison will try to get benefits. But it is also true that those involved must be tried,” he said.

Justice Rahim, the senior judge of the bench, said: “I have gone through the chargesheet. I think there are serious flaws in it... But I am not spelling them out. It is not a defect in that sense. Take a close look at the chargesheet.”

The court scheduled the next hearing for Sunday after Baset Mazumdar sought time to study the document.

Lawyer Montu Ghosh assisted Mazumdar in the hearing. Deputy Attorney General Sheikh AKM Moniruzzaman Kabir and Assistant Attorney General Shahidul Islam represented the State.

The petitioner, Beauty, who is now the councillor of the ward her late husband had represented, too, was present in the courtroom.

The five she had brought charges in her complaint that were later dropped from the chargesheet are Siddhirganj Awami League General Secretary Yasin Mia, Hasmat Ali Hasu, Aminul Islam Raju, Anwar Hossain Ashik and Iqbal Hossain.

“The chargesheet has been prepared impartially, professionally, transparently, and flawlessly,” Narayanganj Superintendent of Police Khandker Mohid Uddin had said after DB Inspector and case investigating officer Mamunur Rashid Mandal had submitted it.

Three RAB officers - Tarek Sayeed Mohammad, MM Rana and Arif Hossain - now removed from the elite force, had been arrested following a High Court order.

Barring these three, the other accused who are currently behind bars are Nur Hossain, Mortuza Zaman Churchill, Ali Mohammad, Mizanur Rahman Dipu, Raham Ali and Abul Basar; RAB member SI Purnendu Bala, ASIs Bojlur Rahman and Abul Kalam Azad, Habilders Emdadul Haque and Nasir Uddin, Constables Shihab Uddin and Babul Hassan, ROG-1 Arif Hossain, Lance Nayeks Hira Mia and Belal Hossain, Lance Corporal Ruhul Amin, Sepoys Abu Tayeb, Nuruzzaman and Asaduzzaman Nur.
 
RAB Sergeant Emanul Kabir, ASI Kamal Hossain, Corporal Mokhlechur Rahman, Soldiers Abdul Alim, Mohiuddin Munshi, Al Amin Sharif, Tajul Islam, and Constable Habibur Rahman are still on the run. 
 
Nur Hossain's accomplice 'Selim' of Bandar Upazila’s Kuriparha is currently lodged in an Indian jail.