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Published : 24 Nov 2025, 02:26 AM
The High Court's full verdict has named former Teknaf Police Station chief Pradip Kumar Das as the mastermind of the murder of retired army major Sinha Md Rashed Khan, who was shot dead at a police checkpoint in Cox’s Bazar in 2020.
Pradip was present at the scene and ensured his death, according to the verdict.
It further states that Md Liaqat Ali, an inspector at the same station, shot the former army officer four times in the upper part of his body with a pistol.
The 378-page verdict, written in Bangla, was published on the Supreme Court website on Sunday.
The verdict was authored by the bench's Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman and concurred with by the other judge -- Justice Md Sagir Hossain.
The bench delivered the ruling on Jun 2, upholding the death sentence for Pradip and Liaqat, and life imprisonment for the other 6 accused in this murder case.
The verdict states: "It has been proven that the convict sentenced to death, Pradip Kumar Das, is the mastermind and planner of the sensational murder, and by being present at the scene of the incident, he forcefully kicked the victim on the left ribs of his chest with his shoe-clad foot, fracturing two of the victim's ribs, and then pressed down on the left side of the victim's neck to confirm his death, which is substantiated by the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and the post-mortem report."
The verdict also highlights that former inspector Liaqat, according to the premeditated plan, shot Sinha four times in the upper part of his body with his service pistol.
The post-mortem report states the victim died from those gunshot wounds, the verdict said, citing the review of the prosecution witnesses' testimonies, the confessional statements of the convicted accused, and strong circumstantial evidence.
The High Court's verdict maintained the life imprisonment sentence for six accused. They are former sub-inspector Nandadulal Rakshit, constables Rubel Sharma and Sagar Deb, alongside Md Nurul Amin, Mohammad Ayaz, and Nizam Uddin from Marishbunia village in Baharchhara, Cox's Bazar.
The High Court verdict noted, "Since the charges of conspiracy, abetment, and common intention in this murder were proven, the trial court, after analysing the nature of their offence, sentenced them to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which we believe is correct and justified. Therefore, there is no scope to interfere with the verdict."
Sinha was shot dead on the night of Jul 31, 2020, by inspector Liaqat, who was working at the Baharchhara Outpost on the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive road.
The Cox's Bazar District and Sessions Judge Court delivered the verdict in this case a year and a half later, on Jan 31, 2022.
The death references for the defendants' death sentences were submitted to the High Court in 2022. The accused filed separate jail appeals and appeals against the sentence.
The death references then moved to the High Court for mandatory confirmation, while the convicts, currently in jail, filed appeals.
The plaintiff and Sinha's sister, Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous, later filed a criminal revision petition in the High Court against those acquitted by the trial court and sought an increase in the verdict for the six individuals sentenced to life imprisonment.
The High Court delivered its verdict on Jun 2, accepting the death references, rejecting the jail appeals and pleas of the convicted accused, and dismissing the rule issued on the plaintiff's revision petition.
