The former Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Teknaf Police Station Pradeep Kumar Das and former inspector of Baharchhara Police Investigation Centre Liakat Ali were sentenced to death in the sensational Major (retd) Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan murder case.
A Cox’s Bazar court has also awarded life-term imprisonment to six other accused in the case. They are- former sub-inspector (SI) of Teknaf Police Station Nanda Dulal, former assistant sub-inspector Sagar Deb, former constable Rubel Sharma, and police informants Nurul Amin, Nijam Uddin and Ayaz Uddin.
Judge of Cox’s Bazar District and Sessions Judge Court Mohammad Ismail delivered the judgement on Monday (January 31).
The court, however, acquitted seven other accused in the case, as allegations brought against them could not be proven. They are dismissed constables Safanur Karim, Kamal Hossain, Abdullah Al Mamun, Md Rajib, Md Abdullah, dismissed assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Liton Mia, and dismissed APBn SI Mohammad Shahjahan.
Sinha’s elder sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous was present in the courtroom with her husband during the pronouncement of the verdict.
While reading out the summary of 300-page judgement, the court in its observation said that the killing was premeditated.
Earlier, police produced the 15 accused in the case, including OC Pradeep and inspector Liakat, before the court from Cox’s Bazar district jail at about 1:00 pm. Later, the judge started reading out the summary of the judgment after 2:00 pm.
Security was beefed up on the court premises since the morning. “We had taken adequate security measures ahead of the judgement. Additional police forces were deployed on the court building premises,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Cox’s Bazar Rafiqul Islam.
A number of check-posts were also set up at different points in Cox’s Bazar. The movement of pedestrians around the court was also restricted centering the verdict.
Earlier in the morning, a human chain was formed in front of court premises demanding capital punishment of OC Pradeep.
The human chain was formed under the banner of Teknaf’s general people and the Committee to Prevent Torture of Journalists. Many of those who have been victims of OC Pradeep, took part in the human chain. They chanted the slogan ‘We want OC Pradeep to be hanged’. Some of the protesters were carrying photographs of the loved ones killed in the alleged gunfights during OC Pradeep’s tenure in Teknaf.
Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan, 36, was a member of the Special Security Force tasked with guarding the prime minister. He had gone into early retirement to pursue his personal interests.
The retired Major was shot dead by police at the APBn check-post at Shamlapur in Baharchhara on the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive on the night of July 31 in 2020. At that time, he was driving towards the capital.
After the incident, OC Pradeep had similarly tried to cover up the killing of Sinha as a ‘gunfight’. So, on that night, police arrested Sinha’s co-traveler Shahadul Islam Sefat and another teammate Shipra Debnath from a local resort, and filed drug cases against them.
Sinha and two others had been in the tourist city to film a travel documentary. Investigation later showed Sinha was murdered as he found out local police’s involvement in narcotics smuggling and other crimes in Cox’s Bazar.
The murder prompted countrywide outcry. Against this backdrop, former officers of the armed forces demanded the arrest of all policemen involved in the incident. The-then army and police chiefs rushed to Cox’s Bazar to hold an unprecedented joint press conference over the murder.
Later on August 5 in 2020, Sinha’s sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous filed the murder case with a Cox’s Bazar court against Pradeep and eight other members of law enforcement agencies. The court ordered the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) for investigation of the case.
Meanwhile, OC Pradeep and inspector Liakat Ali surrendered to the court, while seven others were arrested by the RAB. Of the 15 accused, 12 except Pradeep and Rubel Sharma gave confessional statements to court.
On December 13 in 2020, the investigation officer of the case and the-then Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of RAB-15 Khairul Islam filed charge-sheet against 15 people in the court.
On June 27 in 2021, the Cox's Bazar court framed charges against the 15 accused. On January 12 this year, the court fixed January 31 (Monday) for delivery of the judgement.