Chittagong, Jan 25 (BDNEWS)- The chargesheet of the Banshkhali carnage in which 11 members of a single Hindu family were burnt alive has been submitted, dropping the name of the main offender, also a local BNP leader.
The chargesheet that was submitted almost clandestinely even without the notice of the plaintiff has dropped the name of the alleged mastermind, Kalipur UP chairman Aminur Rahman Chowdhury, also cousin of the state minister for Forest and Environment, after nearly 25 months of the grisly massacre.
The investigation officer and assistant police super (Satkania circle) Clarence Gomage submitted the chargesheet to the Banskhali police station on December 14 accusing 31 persons and recommending release of 19 others from the charges, police and court sources said on Wednesday.
Though officer-in charge of the Banskhali police Jashimuddin admitted that the name of Aminur Rahman Chowdhury was dropped, he declined to give names of others accused.
Though important information was found in the investigation, the prime motive of the sensational murder case remained unclear as the home minister and top brass of the police shortly after the incident said robbery might be the motive behind the carnage.
Eleven people, including seven women and a newborn, were burnt alive early November 19,2003 when armed robbers torched a two-storied mud house at village Shilpara of Sadhanpur under Banshkhali upazila, some 25 kilometers south of Chittagong.
Soon after the incident, Banskhali police filed a case mentioning the sections of murder and arson.
Police have so far arrested 30 persons of whom six got bails but a number of the criminals including the alleged mastermind remained out of the police dragnet.
The investigation authority in its almost two years of investigation detected that the incident resulted from an abortive robbery and found no evidence of gunpowder, the chargesheet said.
Even the district public prosecutor has already turned down the "Memo of Evidence" (ME) of the case two times termed it biased and incomplete investigation.
Despite the negative comment of the PP, submission of the chargesheet was hastened when the monitoring cell of the home ministry gave the final directive for quick disposal of the sensational case.
In the arson in which gun-powder was used, 11 members of a house were trapped and charred.
Only Bimal Shil, son of Tejendra, survived the carnage, through jumping out of a first-floor window.
Tejendra, 70, his wife Bakul Bala, 60, their son Anil Kanti , 42, daughter-in-law Smriti Rani, 30, three grand-daughters Rumi, 11, Sonia, 7, and four-day-old Kartik were all killed in the arson.
Also killed were Tejendra's three nieces Bhabuti, 25, Prasadi, 17, and Anny, 15. The other victim was a close relative of Tejendra, Debendra Shil, 75, who had come to visit the family the day before the occurrence.
BDNEWS/ 1800 hrs
