One to die, 2 get life terms in Rangpur journo Utso murder case
The convicts are absconding.
A Rangpur court today (2 September) sentenced one person to death and two others to life imprisonment nearly 11 years after the murder of journalist Mashiur Rahman alias Utso Rahman.
Among the convicted, Rubel alias Hekram was sentenced to death and Elin and Shuvo Kumar were given life-term rigorous imprisonment. The convicts are absconding.
Rangpur Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court Judge Mashiur Rahman Khan delivered the verdict in a crowded courtroom this afternoon, according to court sources.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
In the verdict, the court acquitted the main accused in the case, drug dealer Zahiran Akhter Jui alias Gedi, due to lack of witnesses and evidence.
The prosecution says Utso left the office at the Daily Juger Alo newspaper on GL Roy Road in the city at around 9:30pm on 23 December, 2015 after finishing his duties and said he would go to a relative's house. He did not return home that night.
The next morning, police recovered the body of Utso Rahman, who was brutally murdered with his hands and feet tied to a tree in the city's Dharmodas area.
In this incident, Nurjahan Begum Nuri, mother of the deceased, filed a murder case with the Rangpur Kotwali police station.
After investigation, the police filed a charge sheet against eight people in the case in the court, and the court framed charges against six people.
After that, the trial of the case went on for around 11 years.
After taking testimony from 11 witnesses and hearing arguments from lawyers, the judge announced the verdict in the case today in the absence of the convicts.
Talking to BSS, plaintiff in the case Nur Jahan Begum said, "We are not satisfied with this verdict. We have been deprived of justice. The matter will be appealed to the High Court."
Government prosecutor Advocate Abdul Hadi Belal and plaintiff's lawyer Advocate Palash Kanti Nag said that the main accused in the case, Zahiran Akhter Jui alias Gedi, paid Taka 360,000 to have journalist Utso Rahman killed.
However, the court acquitted the mastermind of the murder, Zahiran Akhter Jui alias Gedi.
"The case will be appealed to the High Court," said Advocate Palash Kanti Nag.
