The Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty of Salauddin Salehin, one of the top militants from Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), who was convicted in the 2004 killing of Goni Gomez of Jamalpur.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, delivered the verdict on Tuesday following an appeal petition. Salehin has been a fugitive since 2015 when his accomplices, who were equipped with arms, stanched him from a prison van carrying the JMB member to Mymensingh jail after a gun attack in Trishal upazila. Rakib, another accused in the case, was killed in a gunfight with police in 2015. The gunfight took place after the stanching incident.
The apex court did not consider the appeal of Rakib, another death-row convict in the case, as he already died.
Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Debnath represented the state in the court.
In 2006, Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced Salehin and Rakib to death in the case and later the High Court upheld sentence rejecting their appeal.
The two militants later filed appeal petitions to the Appellate Division of the the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court’s verdict.
Goni Gomez, owner of a pharmacy, who had converted to Christian from Muslim, was killed by the JMB men.