No trial even 17 years after actor Sohel Chowdhury’s murder

Film star Sohel Chowdhury’s murder has seen no trial even 17 years after the incident.

The defendants appealed for the quashing of the case after the framing of charges.

This led to a still persisting legal tangle in the trial court.

Ten years after the case reached a legal impasse, prosecution lawyers are unable to say where it currently stands. Defence lawyers are not saying anything either.

Sources say Chowdhury’s mother Nurjahan Begum and his wife, actress Parveen Sultana Diti, used to take interest in the case until a certain point of time.

But Diti, extremely ill, is now in hospital, and Nurjahan Begum is no longer alive.

Sohel Chowdhury was shot dead below Trumps Club at Abedin Tower in Banani on Dec 18, 1998.

His brother, Touhidul Islam Chowdhury, filed the murder case at Gulshan Police Station the same day.

There were allegations of film producer and businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai’s links with the crime.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch filed a chargesheet in court against nine persons, including Aziz Mohammad, on Jul 30, 1999.

The other accused are Trumps Club owners Afaqul Islam aka Bunti Islam and Ashish Chowdhury, top terrorist Sanjidul Islam Emon, Adnan Siddiqui, Tariq Sayeed Mamun, Selim Khan, Harun Ur Rashid alias Leather Liton and Farooq Abbasi.

Charges were framed on Oct 30, 2001 in Dhaka’s Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court-3.

The case was subsequently transferred to Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-2 in 2003 for quick disposal.

But Mamun, one of the accused, appealed to the High Court, seeking the quashing of the case. In response, the court issued a rule and stayed the proceedings in the trial court.

A recent look at the court documents revealed that the High Court rule had not been resolved in 10 years, leaving the trial stalled.

When asked, Speedy Trial Tribunal-2 Public Prosecutor Shamsul Haque Badal told bdnews24.com: “I know nothing about this case. I was brought to the tribunal long after the framing of charges.”

Badal suggested that inquiries be made with the ‘peshkar’ (court clerk who ​puts up cases for hearing).

When contacted, Peshkar Kamal Hossen said he knew only of a High Court stay order on the case.

Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Roy, attached to the High Court, said he had no specific information about the case, either.

He suggested that the High Court’s ‘moving section’ be contacted for greater details, saying: “The existence of more information is unlikely. But a stay order should not have lasted this long.”

Mamun’s High Court lawyer Abdus Sobhan Tarafdar said, “A rule was issued in this case. I don’t know what happened after that.”

He said his junior Moslem Uddin had been working on the case.

Case documents revealed that Emon, one of the accused, was in jail, while seven others including Aziz Mohammad were out on bail. The other accused, Ashish Chowdhury, is absconding.

Trumps Club on the seventh floor of Abedin Tower next to Banani Jame Masjid was known to be a favourite haunt of youths in that elite locality.

The complaint in the case was that Sohel Chowdhury and Aziz Mohammad had an altercation over a supposed female friend at the club a few months before the murder.

An agitated Chowdhury had apparently verbally abused Aziz Mohammad Bhai, possibly provoking an act of revenge that lead to the former’s killing.

Chowdhury had tried to enter the club with his friends around 1am on the day of his murder but had been stopped at the entrance.

He made a second attempt to enter a little later, but Emon, Mamun, Liton, Farooq and Adnan allegedly shot him.

Adnan was caught right ​after ​the murder.