The High Court will deliver its verdict on Sunday regarding the death reference and appeals of the convicted accused in the brutal murder case of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) student Abrar Fahad.
The case has been listed for a verdict on the High Court bench of Justice A.K.M. Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain. After hearing the case, on February 24, the High Court had reserved its judgment (CAV).
The state was represented by Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman, Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Jasim Sorkar, Khondkar Bahar Rumi, Noor Mohammad Azmi, and Russell Ahmed, along with Assistant Attorney Generals Abdul Jobbar Jewel, Laboni Akhter, Tanvir Pradhan, and Sumaiya Binte Aziz.
The accused were represented by senior lawyers S.M. Shahjahan, Azizur Rahman Dulu, Masud Hasan Chowdhury, and Mohammad Shishir Monir.
On January 6, 2022, the death reference of this case reached the High Court.
According to criminal procedure, when a death sentence is given in a lower court, all case proceedings must be sent to a higher court for approval. Later, the imprisoned accused filed appeals from jail, and many others also filed criminal appeals.
On December 8, 2021, the court sentenced 20 people to death and five others to life imprisonment in the Abrar Fahad murder case. The verdict was announced by Judge Abu Zafar Mohammad Kamruzzaman of the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1.
The convicted individuals sentenced to death are: Mehedi Hasan Russel (24), Mohammad Anik Sorkar alias Apu (22), Mehedi Hasan Robin alias Shanto (23), Ifti Mosharraf Sokal (20), Mohammad Moniruzzaman Monir (21), Meftahul Islam Zion (23), Mohammad Majeedur Rahman Majeed (20), Mohammad Mujahidur Rahman Mujahid (21), Khondkar Tabakarul Islam alias Tanvir (21), Hossain Mohammad Toha (21), Mohammad Shamim Billah (21), Mohammad Sadat AS M Nazmus Sadat (21), Muntasir Al Zemi (20), Mohammad Mizanur Rahman Mizan (22), SM Mahmud Setu (24), Shamsul Arefin Rafat (21), Mohammad Morshed alias Morshed Amartya Islam (20), Ehteshamul Rabbi alias Tanin (20) (fugitive), Mohammad Morshed Uzzaman Mondol alias Jisan (22) (fugitive), Mujtaba Rafid (21) (fugitive).
The convicted individuals sentenced to life imprisonment are: Amit Saha (21), Istiaq Ahmed Munna (21), Mohammad Akash Hossain (21), Muhtasim Fuad (23), and Mohammad Moyaz alias Moyaz Abu Horaira (21).
Due to a Facebook status on the unequal agreement between Bangladesh and India and water aggression, Abrar Fahad, a second-year student of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a resident of Sher-e-Bangla Hall at BUET, was brutally beaten to death by cadres of the student organization on the night of October 6, 2019. The murder took place in the room of a leader of the Bangladesh Chhatra League. His body was later recovered from the stairs of Sher-e-Bangla Hall at 3 AM by the police.
On October 7, the next day after the incident, Abrar’s father, Barkat Ullah, filed a murder case against 19 people at the Chawkbazar police station. The investigation was completed within 37 days, and on November 13 of the same year, the investigating officer, Detective Police Inspector Mohammad Wahiduzzaman, submitted the charge sheet.
