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Published : 21 Jun 2026, 07:18 PM
A Bogura court has sentenced five men to death for kidnapping, murdering and concealing the body of 8-year-old Rifat Hossain in Shajahanpur Upazila.
The verdict was delivered on Sunday by Md Anwarul Haque, judge of the Bogura Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1, according to Public Prosecutor Advocate Md Ali Asgar.
Those sentenced are Abul Kalam Azad, Selim Islam, Mehedi Hasan, Raju Islam, alias Panchphul, and Sagar, who was identified by a single name.
Selim and Sagar remain fugitives.
The court also fined each of the five convicts Tk 200,000.
In addition, five other suspects who were minors at the time of the crime were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Eight of the 11 suspects were present when the verdict was delivered.
According to the case, Rifat Hossain, the victim, was the son of expatriate Enamul Haque of Khadas Hatkhola.
All the suspects were neighbours or acquaintances of the family, the official documents said.
Public Prosecutor Asgar said Rifat went missing on Jul 15, 2018.
After a frantic search failed to locate him, his family filed a general diary with Shajahanpur Police.
Police recovered the child's body three days later from beneath the Bhadrabati Bridge in neighbouring Poyalgachha village.
Enamul subsequently filed a murder case against 11 people.
Masud Rana, one of the suspects, died during the trial and was later dropped from the proceedings.
The prosecution said that after Enamul returned from abroad, neighbour Abul Kalam Azad repeatedly demanded money from him.
On the day of the incident, he allegedly sought Tk 100,000. When Enamul refused, Rifat disappeared later that afternoon.
Investigators subsequently established allegations of kidnap, ransom demand, murder and concealment of the body.
Expressing satisfaction with the verdict, Enamul said the court had issued arrest warrants for the two absconding convicts and ordered the case records to be sent to the High Court Division for confirmation of the death sentences.
