Four to die for murder of man over 2016 Chattogram property dispute

Sulal Chowdhury was hacked to death in a feud over the boundaries of properties

A Chattogram court has sentenced four people to death and one to life in prison for a murder in 2016 over a property dispute in Chattogram’s Raozan in 2016.

Chittagong Third Additional District and Sessions Judge HM Shafiqul Islam delivered the verdict in the case on Wednesday.

The death row convicts are Mithu Chowdhury, Sumon Chowdhury, Md Delwar Hossain and Md Ershad Hossain. All of them, aside from Delwar Hossain, are absconding.

Sudip Chowdhury, who was sentenced to life in prison, was present in court when the verdict was announced. The court acquitted Ilyas Ilu, another suspect in the case.

Sudip Kanti Nath, the state lawyer in the case, told bdnews24.com, "Due to a dispute over the boundary of the house, the accused killed Sulal Chowdhury on the night of Jun 25, 2016, by hacking him to death and throwing his body in a pond.”

"After hearing the testimony of 15 of the 20 witnesses in the case, the court gave its verdict today. In the verdict, four defendants were sentenced to death and each was fined Tk 50,000, one defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Tk 10,000, and another defendant was ordered to be acquitted."

Sulal, 55, was a resident of Chikdair village of Ward No. 5 of Raozan. He was the owner of a pharmacy named Abhaya Pharmacy in the local Azadi Bazar and offered herbal medicine treatments.