Chattogram court indicts 24 in BCL leader Sudipta’s murder case

The court sets Oct 30 for the first testimonies in the trial

A Chattogram court has indicted 24 suspects in the murder case of Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Sudipta Biswas.

Md Amirul Islam, second additional metropolitan sessions judge, framed the charges on Monday.

The charge sheet was submitted to the court over one-and-a-half years ago and the indictment hearing was deferred six times.

Md Fakhruddin Chowdhury, state lawyer for the Chattogram court, said, “We filed a petition for the indictment and held a hearing. The court framed charges against all the accused under section 302 at the end of the hearing.”

"The court has set Oct 30 as the starting date for the recording of testimonies from witnesses in the case."

All the accused in the case are out on bail. Of the suspects, only Abu Jihad Siddiqui failed to appear in court during Monday’s hearing. The court scrapped his bail and issued an arrest warrant against him.

Sudipta’s father Meghnath Biswas said, "The indictment has occurred after a long time. Now the recording of witness testimony will begin. The accused in the case are very rich and powerful.”

“I am a teacher and my finances are not strong. I managed to hire a lawyer after enduring many difficulties. I want everyone's cooperation to get justice for the murder of my son. The trial would have proceeded quicker if it was sent to a speedy trial tribunal."

A group of assailants beat Sudipta, a former student of Chittagong Government City College and an assistant secretary of BCL's port city unit, to death at Lalkhan Bazar on Oct 6 in 2017.

Sudipta's friends have blamed the followers of Didarul Alam Masum, the general secretary of the Awami League’s Lalkhan Bazar Ward unit, for the murder. They said Sudipta was killed for 'criticising the rival faction for the weak state of the Chattogram BCL on social media'.

Masum was named as the architect of Sudipta's murder in the chargesheet submitted by the Police Bureau of Investigation.

Police arrested Masum in 2019 in a case over the murder of Sudipta. Masum was released on bail on Jan 29, 2020.