Published : 17 Aug 2025, 10:13 PM
Updated : 28 Aug 2026, 01:25 AM
A Dhaka court has sentenced five people to death for the 2012 murder of Dr Narayan Chandra Dutta Nitai, an assistant professor at Dhaka’s National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital.
Four others have been handed prison terms until their death, while another convict has been sentenced to life in prison.
Judge Rezaul Karim of the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court delivered the verdict on Sunday.
The death penalty recipients are Kamrul Hasan Arun, Masum Mintu, Sayed Bepari, Bokul Mia, and Said Mizi. The court has also fined them Tk 10,000 each.
Abul Kalam, Peda Masum, Saidul and Faysal (both identified by single names) have been sentenced to jail until their deaths. Each of them has also been fined Tk 5,000 with an additional month in prison if they fail to pay. Rafiqul Islam has been sentenced to life in prison.
Each of the convicts was also sentenced to 14 years in prison for entering a home at night and also fined Tk 5,000 each. A failure to pay the fine will lead to an additional month in jail.
Each of them has also been sentenced to 10 years in prison and a Tk 5,000 fine for robbery using death threats. A failure to pay this fine will also lead to an additional month in jail.
Moazzem Hossain, the prosecutor assigned to the court, said: “Ten suspects were brought to court from prison to hear the verdict. After the verdict, conviction warrants were issued, and they were taken back to prison.”
“I hope the higher court will uphold the verdict.
Nitai was a leader in the Shadhinota Chikitshok Parishad, an organisation of doctors who supported the then-ruling Awami League, and an executive council member of the Bangladesh Medical Association. On the night of Aug 23, 2012, he was killed at his home in the hospital’s residential area in Mohakhali.
Only Nitai’s elderly mother was at home with him at the time. His wife, Lucky Chowdhury, was in Chattogram.
The day after the murder, Nitai’s father filed a murder case at Banani Police Station.
After a six-month investigation, Detective Branch Inspector Gazi Ataur Rahman filed a charge sheet against 10 people on Feb 11, 2013.
The chargesheet said the doctor was killed when he caught robbers in the act, and the accused had stolen Tk 500,000 and two gold bangles from his house.
The police alleged that most of the suspects in the murder were “professional thieves”, while Arun was Nitai’s driver.
Five of the accused in this case were also shown arrested in the murder case of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi on Feb 11, 2012, which law enforcers have yet to solve.
After the suspects were indicted on Jul 22, 2013, the trial began on Jan 28, 2014, with the testimony of Nitai's father Tarit Kanti.
During the trial, the court heard the testimony of 29 people. Five of the accused testified in their own defence.
After both sides completed their arguments, the court found all ten accused guilty and delivered the verdict on Sunday.
