Seven get death for murder of pickup driver in Faridpur

A Faridpur court has sentenced seven people to death for the murder of a pickup truck driver five years ago.

District and Sessions Judge Md Selim Mia delivered the verdict on Thursday along with a fine of Tk 10,000 on each of the convicts.

The convicts are Tofa Molla, 26, Polash Fakir, 32, Siddik Khalasi, 36, Ershad Matubbor, 32, 'Suruj' alias Sirajul Khan, 27, Naim Matubbor, 35, and Anu Molla alias Anwar Molla, 28. They all are natives of Bhanga Upazila's Chandra Village.

Among them, Naim and Sirajul are absonding while the rest were in the dock at the time of the judgment.

According to the case dossier, pickup driver Keramot Hawladar of the Bhanga Upazila's North Lohardia village went missing on Dec 14, 2014. Police later found his decapitated body in a nearby swamp the next morning.

A case was filed by Keramot's brother Ikram Hawladar against seven suspects with Bhanga police on Dec 15.

Police went through Keramot's mobile phone and traced a call back to Tofa who was subsequently arrested. He later confessed to the murder and revealed the identities of his accomplices.

The law enforcement agency subsequently arrested the others and pressed formal charges on Dec 7, 2015.