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Published : 03 Nov 2022, 01:23 PM
The High Court has upheld the death sentences of three of five suspects convicted in the 2012 murder of Chattogram student Himadri Majumder Himu.
The bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Khandaker Diliruzzaman delivered the verdict on Thursday after hearing the death references and appeals from the defendants.
The death row convicts are Zahidur Rahman Shaon, Junaid Ahmed Riad and Mahbub Ali Danny.
Riad has been absconding since the start of the trial, while Shaon became a fugitive after he was released on bail.
Two other suspects in the case – Shah Selim Tipu and Shahadat Hossain Shaju were acquitted.
On Aug 14, 2016, Chattogram Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Nurul Islam sentenced all five to death in the murder case.
The death reference and other documents in the case came to the High Court this year. The suspects also filed an appeal of their convictions.
On Apr 27, 2012, Shaon, Riad, Shaju and Danny allegedly kidnapped Himu from in front of Summerfield School and College in the Panchlaish area of the port city after he hindered their drug dealing efforts, the case dossier says.
Himu, who had passed his ‘A’ Levels from the school, was 18 at the time.
The suspects then took Himu to the roof of a home owned by Riad’s father, a businessman named Tipu. He was detained there and beaten. They then ordered a vicious dog to attack him and pushed him off the roof. Himu was in hospital for 26 days before he succumbed to his injuries on May 23 of that year.
Himu’s uncle, Sree Prokash Das, then filed a murder case against the five suspects at Panchlaish Police Station.
"The suspects used the second fiercest breed of dog in the world - known as a Rotweiller - to attack Himadri, torture him and push him off the roof, killing him. This was proven by the verdict," said Jahid Ahmed Hiru, assistant attorney general, following the verdict.
"Himadri was involved in an anti-drug organisation known as Shikor and was doing social work. Through his involvment, Himadri worked for the welfare of people. He was a kind-hearted student. But an influential quarter did not take his social work kindly."
Many members of Shikor were threatened, Hiru said.
"Several of those who received such threats filed general diaries at the police station. Even then, Himadri could not escape the grasp of these influential criminals."
Asked about the overturned convictions of Shaju and Tipu, the state lawyer said:
"The evidence presented during the trial could not prove that they were present when the crime was committed. That is why they were acquitted."
The overturning of their convictions will be appealed, he added.
