Gaibandha MP Liton murder trial verdict on Thursday

A Gaibandha court is set to give its decision on Thursday on the murder trial of Awami League MP Manjurul Islam Liton.

District and Sessions Judge Dilip Kumar Bhowmik scheduled the judgment on Nov 19 after hearing all sides of arguments.

The main suspect, former Jatiya Party MP Abdul Kader Khan, is serving life term after the court sentenced him on June 11 in another case related to the murder but under the arms law over the recovery of weapons that police said were used in the killing.

Public Prosecutor Shafiqul Islam said he hoped the defendants would be given the capital punishment - death penalty.

Besides Kader, five other accused are in jail now. They are Kader’s aide Shamsuzzoha, chauffer Abdul Hannan, Mehedi Hasan, Shaheen Mia and Anwarul Islam Rana.

Another suspect, Chandan Kumar Roy, is on the run while the other one, Subal Chandra Roy, died in prison during trial.

On the evening of Dec 31, 2016, unidentified assailants shot the ruling party MP from Gaibandha-1 (Sundarganj) constituency. He died an hour later at a hospital in Rangpur.

Kader, a retired army officer and the former MP from the same constituency, had masterminded the killing “to clear his path for election”, police said.

Defence counsel Abdul Hamid said Kader has been framed.

“We’ve presented detailed arguments that the defendants are innocent. We will move the High Court if the verdict does not favour us,” he said.