Dhaka, Apr 30 (V7N)- The High Court will announce its verdict on May 8 regarding the death references and appeals of the accused in the Ramna Batamul bomb attack case, a pivotal incident in Bangladesh’s fight against extremism.

A bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasrin Akhter fixed the date on Wednesday, following the conclusion of hearings on February 18. Prominent lawyers SM Shahjahan, Sarwar Ahmed, and Mohammad Shishir Monir appeared for the defense, while Deputy Attorney General Sultana Akhter Ruby represented the state.

The original verdict was announced on June 23, 2014, by Judge Ruhul Amin of the Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court, sentencing eight individuals to death and six others to life imprisonment for the 2001 bomb attack during Chhayanot’s Pahela Baishakh event at Ramna Batamul, which left 10 people dead and many injured. All the accused were members of the banned militant group Harkatul Jihad (HuJI).

Among the death row convicts are:

  • Mufti Abdul Hannan (later executed in another case),
  • Maulana Tajuddin (brother of ex-BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu),
  • Maulana Akbar Hossain,
  • Mufti Abdul Hai,
  • Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar,
  • Maulana Abu Bakr alias Hafez Selim Howlader,
  • Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, and
  • Maulana Arif Hasan Sumon.

The six sentenced to life in prison include:

  • Hafez Maulana Abu Taher,
  • Maulana Sabbir alias Abdul Hannan Sabbir,
  • Hafez Maulana Yahia,
  • Maulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid,
  • Maulana Abdur Rauf, and
  • Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel.

Each death row convict was also fined Tk 50,000, with an additional year in prison in case of default.

The April 14, 2001 attack remains one of the most tragic acts of terrorism in Bangladesh’s cultural history. The final verdict is expected to be a major milestone in closing this long-running case.

END/MSS/AJ