Three killers executed

Three convicted killers of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Kazi Aref Ahmed were executed last night.

Shahjahan Ali, superintendent of Jessore Central Jail, told The Daily Star that Safayat Hossain Habib and Anwar Hossain Anu were hanged at 11:03pm while Rashedul Islam Jhantu at 11:45pm inside the jail.

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The trio were top cadres of the outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-Laltu).

Kazi Aref, a liberation war organiser, along with four Kushtia JSD unit men was killed after a rally at Kalidaspur in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia on February 16, 1999.

The convicts shot Aref several times after he had finished his speech at the rally.

Lokman Hossain, then JSD's Kushtia district unit president, its General Secretary Yakub Ali and activists Israil Hossain and Shamsher Mandal were killed moments before Aref was murdered.

Hours before the killers were hanged yesterday, Aref's widow Rawsan Jahan Sathi told The Daily Star over the phone that she wanted to see the execution of all convicts awarded the death penalty for her husband's murder.

She expressed dissatisfaction over five accused, sentenced to death, being at large and the “acquittal of the mastermind behind the killing”.

Deceased Lokman's son, Ali Ahsan Mujahid, also demanded immediate execution of all the convicts sentenced to death.

THE KILLING

Daulatpur upazila JSD held a rally on Kalidaspur Government Primary School ground and around 1,500 activists and supporters gathered there.

Aref, the then JSD president, was the chief guest. The armed killers stormed the venue around 4:45pm and fired several shots in the air.

They asked for the four JSD men and after identifying them, the murderers killed Lokman, Yakub, Shamsher and Israil, sources and witnesses said.

When Aref begged the perpetrators not to kill his leaders, convict Jhantu asked Aref his name, they said.

As Aref divulged his identity, the killers said that they were looking for him too and that they had orders from their leader to kill Aref.

Jhantu and Habib then opened fired on Aref.

The entire attack was over in 15 minutes, they added.

According to the charge sheet, JSD's stance against criminal activities of the PBCP and JSD severing its ties with Gono Bahini was the reason behind the killing.

PBCP-Laltu's chief Laltu was angered by the JSD's stance as he had joined hands with some of Gono Bahini leaders.

“Laltu was one of the masterminds of the killings and organised a team to carry out the mission,” said Khorshed Alam, a key witness in the case.

Laltu was awarded life imprisonment for the killings but was later acquitted of the charges in 2008.

But according to the confessional statements of Jhantu and Habib, the plan for the killing was made with Laltu 14 to 15 days ahead.

CASE PROCEEDINGS

Ishak Ali, the then officer-in-charge (OC) of Daulatpur Police Station, filed the murder case.

A charge sheet of the case was submitted on April 25, 1999. The case was transferred to Kushtia District and Sessions Judge's Court on December 7, 1999.

After five years of trial, then additional sessions judge of Kushtia Fazlur Rahman delivered the verdict on August 30, 2004.

Elas Hossain, Sahir Uddin, Baker, Mannan Mollah, Anu, Jhantu, Jahan Ali, Jalal, Habib, and Rowsan were given the death penalty and 12 others were sentenced to life imprisonments.

The convicts appealed.

On August 5, 2008, a High Court bench acquitted Sahir Uddin and 11 of the 12 given life-term imprisonments by the lower court.

The convicts appealed to the Appellate Division which upheld their death penalties on August 8, 2011.

Convicts Mannan, Jahan, Jalal, Rowsan, and Baker are absconding and Elas Hossain died in jail.