Staff Reporter:
The High Court (HC) will deliver judgment any day on the death references, appeals and jail ap-peals of the convicts in the Ramna Batamul bombing cases filed over two decades ago.
An HC bench consisting of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasrin Akter passed the order after ending hearings on the death references and appeals.
Defence lawyers SM Shahjahan, Sarwar and Mohammad Shishir Monir stood for the accused while deputy attorney general Sultana Akter Rubi represented the state during the hearing in the court.
On April 14, 2001, during the Chhayanat’s Bengali New Year celebrations at Ramna Batamul, a bomb blast left nine people dead on the spot. Another died at the hospital later.
Two cases – one for murder and another for explosives — were filed with Ramna Police Station af-ter the incident. Dhaka’s Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge ruled on June 23, 2014 in a murder case involving the bomb attack.
Eight people, including Mufti Hannan, the top leader of Harkatul Jihad (Huji), were sentenced to death and six to life imprisonment. However, Mufti Hannan was hanged on April 12, 2017 in a conviction over another grenade attack in Sylhet.
The death references and appeals of the convicts were kept waiting for hearing in the High Court.
After hearing the death references and other appeals, the court is now set to deliver the verdict any day.
