Court starts hearing death reference defence plea in Ramna Batamul bombing case

High Court has started hearing the appeals of 14 people who have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment in the case of bombing that killed 10 people at Ramna during Bangla New Year’s celebrations in 2001.

The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim started hearing on Sunday.

Deputy Attorney General Forhad Ahmad told journalists Mufti Hannan, Akbar Hossain, ‘Sumon,’ Shahdatullah and Abu Taher have appealed against death sentences while Sheikh Farid and Md Yahia have appealed against life term in prison.

Banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh's (HuJI) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and his 13 accomplices are convicted in the case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Ruhul Amin Mufti handed death sentence to Mufti and seven others and life term to six more in 2014.

Those sentenced to death are Hannan, Maulana Akbar Hossain, Arif Hasan Sumon, Maulana Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badr, Maulana Abu Bakr alias Hafiz Selim Hawladar, Maulana Abdul Hai and Maulana Shafiqur Rahman.

Shahadatullah Jewel, Maulana Sabbir, Shaokat Hossain alias Sheikh Farid, Maulana Abdur Rauf, Maulana Abu Taher and Maulana Yahia were awarded life in prison.

Maulana Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badr, Abu Bakr, Maulana Shafiqur Rahman and Maulana Abdul Hai are absconding.

Ten people died and several more were injured after an explosion hit the packed audience of Chhayanaut’s Pahela Baishakh programme at Ramna Park’s Batamul on Apr 14, 2001.

HuJI leaders waged the attack alleging the celebration to be “anti-Islam,” according to case details.

Police filed two cases that day, one for murder and another under Explosives Act.

At the investigation phase, the case changed hands of seven investigation officers for nearly eight years before the CID finally pressed charges against 14 people in the twin cases on Nov 29, 2008.

Then, the cases were sent to Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court on Jan 1, 2009. The court framed charges against HuJI chief Mufti Hannan and his 13 associates on Apr 16, 2009.

Later, the home ministry sent the murder case to Speedy Trial Tribunal-3 and the explosives case to Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 for quick disposal.

But as the trial in the murder case did not end within 135 days, it was sent back to the session judge court.

Witness deposition in the case ended on Oct 23, 2013. On Nov 10 the accused gave their statements.

Though the chargesheet named 84 people as prosecution witnesses, the court only recorded the statements of 61.