Ramna Batamul bombing case: HC sets 13 May for reading out full verdict
The High Court has set 13 May for delivering its verdict on whether the sentences of the accused in the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombing case will be upheld.
The High Court bench comprising Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasrin Akter started reading out the verdict today (8 May). The bench stated that the full judgment will be concluded on 13 May, when the final decision regarding the sentences will be made.
Previously, on 23 June 2014, a lower court sentenced eight people, including Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI) top leader Mufti Abdul Hannan and Maulana Tajuddin, to death in the Ramna Batamul bombing case. Six others were given life imprisonment in the same verdict.
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The accused later appealed against the verdict in the High Court.
The bombing that took place on 14 April 2001 during Chhayanaut's Pahela Baishakh celebration at Ramna Batamul killed ten. Nine people died at the scene, while another died later in the hospital.
Following the incident, Sergeant Amal Chandra Chand of Nilkhet Police Outpost filed two cases at Ramna Police Station, one under murder and another under explosives laws, on the same day.
On 30 November 2008, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted charge sheets against 14 accused in both cases.
After taking evidence, the trial court announced the verdict in the murder case on 23 June 2014.
Subsequently, the death references and appeals from the accused were sent to the High Court.
While the murder case verdict has been announced, the explosives case is still pending in Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal No 1.
In this case, the trial court sentenced eight people to death, including Mufti Hannan, the top leader of the banned militant organisation Harkat-ul-Jihad (Huji), and six others to life imprisonment.
The eight death row convicts are Mufti Abdul Hannan, Maulana Akbar Hossain, Arif Hassan Sumon, Maulana Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badr, Maulana Abu Bakr aka Maulana Hafez Selim Hawladar, Maulana Abdul Hai, and Maulana Shafiqur Rahman.
Among them, Mufti Hannan has already been executed for his role in the grenade attack case in Sylhet.
After the trial court's verdict in 2014, the case came to the High Court as a death reference. Jail appeals were also filed. Later, the case was placed on the court's agenda after preparing the paper book.
