Four people have been hanged and six others acquitted in the sensational Satkhira college student Gautam Sarkar murder case. Satkhira District and Sessions Judge Sadiqul Islam Talukder announced the verdict at 11 am on Wednesday.
The convicted accused are Ali Ahmed Shaon of Bahera village in Debhata upazila of Satkhira, Shahadat Hossain and Nazmul Gazi of Bhar-Khali village in Sadar upazila, and Saju Sheikh of Mahadevnagar village.
The acquitted accused are Omar Faruk and Noor Ahmed Mukt of Bhad-Khali village, Mohsin Ali, Kabirul Islam Mithu, Jamshed Ali and Firoza Khatun of Mahadevnagar village.
According to the case details, Gautam Sarkar, a second-year honors student in political science at Simanta Degree College, son of Ganesh Sarkar, UP member of Mahadevnagar village in Ghona union of Satkhira Sadar upazila, was killed at a house under construction by Moklesur Rahman near his house at around 7:30 pm on December 13, 2016, demanding a ransom of 10 lakh taka. Before the murder, a box of roses was inserted into his cheek and a cross-tape was put on his face. Later, 12 bricks were hung from different parts of the body with ropes and tied to bamboo and drowned in the pond of Moklesur Rahman nearby.
The deceased's father, Ganesh Sarkar, filed a murder case with the police station on December 16 of that year in the name of Ali Ahmed Shaon, Shahadat Hossain, Saju Sheikh, Nazmul Hossain, Muhsin Ali, Kabirul Islam Mithu. Based on the confessions of the accused, a supplementary complaint was filed with the police station the next day, mentioning the names of Omar Faruk, Nur Ahmed Mukt and Jamshed. The supplementary complaint was sent to the court on December 29 of that year. Nazmul and Shahadat gave confessional statements in the court under Section 164. However, when Nazmul applied to withdraw his statement under Section 164 at the end of the case, the court did not accept it.
The police arrested Saju Sheikh's mother Firoza Khatun in the case. The investigation of the case was entrusted from Sadar Police Station Sub-Inspector Asaduzzaman to Mamala DB Police Sub-Inspector Ashraful Islam on January 5 last year. On April 18 last year, the charge sheet was filed in the court mentioning the names of the above 10 accused. On March 1 this year, charges were framed against all the accused.
After reviewing 16 witnesses and documents in the case, the judge ordered that Shahadat Hossain, Nazmul Gazi, Saju Sheikh and Nur Ahmed Shaon be hanged until death as the charges of conspiracy to murder c level contact list were proven beyond doubt. Omar Faruk, Nur Ahmed Mukt, Mohsin Ali, Kabirul Islam Mithu, Jamshed Ali and Firoza Khatun were acquitted as their guilt was not proven. At the same time, the order said that the accused can appeal to the High Court within seven days of receiving a copy of the verdict.
Shahadat Hossain and Nazmul Hossain have been in jail since their arrest. Firoza Khatun, Ali Ahmed Shaon and Saju Sheikh are absconding after being released on bail. The arrest warrant against Firoza has been withdrawn as the charges were not proven.
The case was handled by Adv. Mizanur Rahman Pintu, Adv. Ashraful Alam, Adv. Akhtaruzzaman and others on behalf of the accused.
The case was handled by Judge Court PP Adv. Osman Gani, Additional PP Adv. Tapan Kumar Das, Adv. GM Lutfar Rahman, Adv. Tozammel Hossain Tozam for the state.
Judge Court PP Adv. Osman Gani said, "This sensational case has been resolved in almost two years. The court's verdict is satisfactory."
The plaintiff in the case, Ganesh Sarkar, said that he has filed a case against those who did not appear in the confessional statements of the accused. However, he is disappointed that six accused were acquitted. After receiving the certified copy of the order, he will consult with his lawyers and go to the high court.