A local court has sentenced 10 people to life imprisonment for killing schoolboy Faruk Hossain in Pabna’s Bhangura.
Pabna Special District and Sessions Judge Ahsan Tareq handed down the verdict at 3pm on Wednesday.
The convicts are Prabhas Chandra Das, son of Sudhir Chowkidar, Shahin Hossain son of Shahjahan Ali, Shafiqul Islam son of Ibrahim Ali of Choubaria area of Bhangura Municipality, Dulal Hossain son of Sannat Ali of Choubaria village, Yusuf Ali son of Ishaq Ali of Charbhangura, Saddam Hussein, son of late Humayun Kabir, Prince, son of Santosh of Saratnagar, Farid Ahmed, son of Hafizur alias Hafez of Charbhangura and Bilkis Begum.
On the other hand, the deceased was the son of Saidul Islam of Chaubaria Bhadrapara mahalla of the district.
Citing the statement, state counsel Dewan Majnul Haque said that the accused dumped the body in the pond after killing Farooq Hossain by calling him on his mobile phone around 11:30 pm on August 24, 2009. His relatives searched for him but could not find him and lodged a complaint with the local police station. A week later, police recovered the body from the former chairman of Bhangura municipality Osman Ali’s pond.
Later on September 1, Anwara Khatun, the mother of the deceased, filed a case against 18-20 named people and some others unnamed. Police arrested them on the basis of a call list. After the hearing, the court sentenced 10 people to life imprisonment for their direct involvement in the murder.
Defendants’ lawyers AKM Shamsul Huda and SM Farid Uddin said, “We will appeal to the high court and hope they will be released from there.”