A Dhaka court has sentenced five people to death more than a decade after the killing of Dr. Narayan Chandra Dutta Nitai, a leader of the Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad (Pro-Awami League Doctors’ Association).
On Sunday (August 17), Judge Md. Rezaul Karim of Dhaka Special Judge’s Court 10 delivered the verdict.
The convicts sentenced to death are Kamrul, Bokul Mia, Mintu alias Bargira Mintu alias Masum Mintu, Hasan Miji, and Saeed Bepari alias Abu Saeed.
In addition, four others were given life imprisonment until death Saidul, Pyada Masum, Abul Kalam, and Faisal. Another accused, Rafiqul Islam, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Each convict was also fined 10,000 taka.
The court further sentenced each of them to 14 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 taka or one month in default for unlawful nighttime trespassing. For robbery under threat of death, they were each sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, another 5,000 taka fine, and one month in default.
According to prosecutor Moyazzem Hossain, 10 of the accused were produced in court from prison during the verdict. After the judgment, they were sent back to jail under warrant of conviction.
Dr. Nitai, an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH) in Dhaka and a prominent physician leader aligned with the Awami League, was murdered on the night of August 23, 2012, at his residence in the hospital’s residential area in Mohakhali.
That night, only his elderly mother was at home with him, his wife Laki Chowdhury, was in Chattogram. The following day, Nitai’s father filed a murder case with Banani Police Station.
