The court has convicted four people for hacking to death two Christian men in Faridpur 20 years ago and sentenced them to life imprisonment. They have also been fined Tk 20,000 each. In default of payment of the fine, they will have to serve another six months of rigorous imprisonment.
The incident took place on the night of July 28, 2005, in Char Dhopapara village of Boalmari upazila of Faridpur.
This order was given by Judge Md. Shafiuddin of the Special Judge Court of Faridpur at around 12 noon on Tuesday, September 28, almost 20 years after the incident. The verdict was given in the absence of the four accused in the case as they were absconding. Along with the announcement of the verdict, arrest warrants have been issued in the names of the four accused who were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The four people sentenced to life imprisonment are Anwar Hossain (53), a resident of Shirgram in Bana Union of Alfadanga Upazila of Faridpur, Kamrul Hasan alias Kamruzzaman (45) of Gunbaha village in Gunbaha Union of Boalmari Upazila, Moniruzzaman alias Monir (40) of Dhopapara village in Chandpur Union of Boalmari, and Abdus Samad (60) of Char Dhopapara village of the same union. The court said that the two deceased Christians were Tapan Roy (30) and Niklal Majhi (35). They were tenants of the house of Bipul Kumar Bakchi, a resident of Char Dhopapara village in Boalmari. Amidst the nationwide JMB (Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh) crackdown, on July 28, 2005, between 2:30 and 3:00 am, unidentified assailants entered the house of the two men and hacked them to death with sharp weapons. Later, the locals rescued them and took them to the Boalmari Upazila Health Complex, where the doctor on duty declared them dead.
In this incident, the owner of the house, Bipul Kumar Bakchi, filed a murder case with the Boalmari Police Station on July 28, 2005, accusing unknown persons.
The investigating officer of the case, Boalmari Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Sultan Mahmud, accused the four men and submitted a charge sheet to the court on March 28, 2007. Confirming the truth of the incident, the government's counsel (PP) of the Faridpur Special Judge's Court, Md. Azizur Rahman, said, "We have got justice in this double murder case, albeit with much delay. The state is satisfied with the verdict."
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