Ashulia bank robbery: Six to die, three jailed [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Ashulia bank robbery: Six to die, three jailed

Local June 01, 2016

Six people were sentenced to death and three were jailed for varying terms on Tuesday for robbing a Bangladesh Commerce Bank killing nine people at Ashulia, on the outskirt of the capital, in April 2015.
Dhaka district sessions judge SM Kuddus Zaman also acquitted two people of the charge.
In a packed courtroom, the judge pronounced the verdict in the presence of 10 accused as the eleventh person, Palash alias Sohel Rana, was still in hiding.
The convicts were normal hearing the verdict and the judge has said, ‘I did not notice any sign of repentance in their face or demeanour.’
The court sentenced Palash, now in hiding, Borhan Uddin, Saiful alias Al Amin, Mahfuzur Islam alias Sumon alias Jamil, Jashim Uddin and Mintu Prodhan to death on charge of ‘dacoity with murder’ under Section 396 of the Penal Code.
Their associate, Ukil Hasan was jailed for life term on the same charge while Abdul Baten and Shahjahan Jamadar were jailed for three years for harbouring the convicts.
The last two were also fined Tk 3,000 each.
The court acquitted Mozammel Haque, who made confession before a magistrate in the case, and Babul Sarder of the charge saying that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them beyond reasonable doubts.
The judge termed the incident ‘pre-planned’, ‘pre-meditated’ and ‘cold blooded’ killings of eight ‘unarmed civilians’.
The judge said that he drew the conclusion based on the facts and circumstances of the case, evidences of 64 of the 97 prosecution witnesses and statements of seven accused made before judicial magistrates.
Public prosecutor Khondakar Abdul Mannan said that he was happy with the verdict.
Defence counsel Faruk Ahamed, however, was disappointed with the verdict.
He said that the investigation found that CCTV camera inside the bank was active during the crime but the CCTV footage was not examined in the courtroom to identify the ‘real perpetrators’ despite repeated appeals from the defence and no test identification parade was performed.
He also alleged that ‘so-called mastermind of the incident’ was also killed in crossfire during the investigation.
The police investigation branded the 11 accused as members of Islamist outfits Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and Ansarullah Bangla Team.
The judge, however, said, ‘It is true that the accused persons belong to a murderous terrorist outfit and the occurrence of dacoity and murders was an outcome of a previously drawn plan but it is surprising to note that all the accused persons do not know the exact name of their so-called organisation let alone its objective, programme or leadership.’
On April 21, 2015, a gang of robbers killed eight people and injured two dozen while robbing the bank in Ashulia Industrial Area.
One of the robbers, Asif, was lynched as mob chased the robbers.
Eight months after the incident, Ashulia police submitted two charge sheets –one for the killings and robbery and the other for possessing explosives – on December 13, 2015 stating that the investigation found involvement of 13 people in the crime.
The second case concerning explosives is pending with another court in Dhaka.
Of the 13 suspects, 10 were arrested, one was lynched during the crime and Palash is still in hiding.
The thirteenth accused, Abdullah Al Baki, whom the police investigators branded as the mastermind of the robbery, was killed in an incident of ‘crossfire’ in the capital’s Gabtoli area in November 2015.
The police had claimed that Abdullah was a member of Ansarullah Bangla Team and a former operative of JMB. The attack was meant to reorganise the militant groups.
The trial in the case began in January and after conclusion of the hearing the court on May 25 posted for Tuesday the pronouncement of the verdict.
Prior to the pronouncement of the verdict, family members and injured victims formed human chain on the court premises demanding capital punishments for the perpetrators.