Khalaf murder: Appellate Division’s verdict set for Oct 10

The Appellate Division will deliver its verdict on the murder of Saudi Arabian embassy official Khalaf Al-Ali on Oct 10.

A three-member bench led by Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah set the date on Sunday after hearing a state appeal of the High Court decision in the case.

A trial court in 2012 sentenced five people to death over the murder. However, the decision was overturned when the convicts’ appeal and death reference went to the High Court.

In 2013, the High Court acquitted fugitive Selim Chowdhury, reduced the sentences of Md Al Amin, Akbar Ali Lalu and Rafiqul Islam to life in prison and upheld the death sentence of Saiful Islam Mamun.

The state appealed the decision in 2014.

Khalaf Al Ali, 45, a non-diplomatic official with the consular section of the embassy, was shot near his Gulshan residence on the night of Mar 5, 2012. He succumbed to his injuries in a hospital the next day. A murder case was filed with Gulshan police two days after the killing.

The suspects had demanded dollars from the Saudi official in a mugging incident that led to a bloody confrontation. Saiful who was carrying a revolver shot Khalaf and ran away, Al Amin, one of the accused, said in a confessional statement to the CMM’s court.

The four other suspects, however, pleaded ' not guilty'. The five were later convicted by the court.