Five years ago sensational Major (Retd.) Sinha Md. Former OC Pradeep Kumar Das and Inspector Md. Rashed Khan murder. The full copy of the High Court judgment upholding the death sentence of Liaquat Ali and life imprisonment of six other accused has been released. The full judgment of 378 pages was published on the website of the Supreme Court on Sunday. The judgment was written in Bengali by the senior judge of the bench. Mostafizur Rahman, with whom the other judge of the bench agreed. Sagir Hossain.
According to the full judgment of the High Court, the mastermind behind the murder of Major Sinha is Pradeep Kumar Das, former OC of Teknaf police station. And the former inspector. Liaquat Ali premeditatedly shot Sinha four consecutive times in the vital parts of his upper body with the intention of killing him from the government pistol which he was present at the spot during the incident and he died of the injuries.
Before Major (retd.) Sinha Md. Former OC Pradip Kumar Das and Inspector Md. in Rashed Khan murder case. Judge Md gave a verdict on June 2, upholding the death sentence of Liaquat Ali and the life sentence of the other six accused. Mostafizur Rahman and Justice Md. High Court bench consisting of Sagir Hossain.
The full verdict said, ‘It has been proved beyond doubt that the accused Pradeep Kumar Das was the mastermind, planner of the murder in question and was present at the scene during the incident and he was the victim Major (retd) Sinha Md. Rashed Khan’s left chest was crushed by shoed foot on the left side of his chest with two broken bones in his chest and the victim was crushed by shoed foot on the left side of the neck, which was confirmed by the post-mortem report along with the testimony of the prosecution witnesses.’
After reviewing the testimony of the prosecution, the confessional statement of the accused and the strong circumstantial evidence, the court said in the judgment that it has been proved that the other accused Liaqat Ali premeditatedly appeared at the scene of the incident and shot unarmed Major (retd) Sinha with the government pistol in his hand. The post-mortem report stated that Rashed Khan had been shot four times in a row in the vital parts of his upper body with the intention of killing him and that he died of the injuries.
The full judgment said, ‘Since the accused Pradeep Kumar Das is the main planner of the murder and the victim Major (Retd.) Sinha Md. was present at the scene during the incident. Rashed Khan’s chest was broken and two chest bones were broken, and the other accused, Liaqat Ali, arrived at the scene and fired four consecutive shots at the victim with the intention of killing him. The autopsy report stated that Rashed Khan died. Therefore, the trial court has rightly awarded death sentence to the accused Pradeep Kumar Das and Liakat Ali under Section 302 of the Penal Code.’
After reviewing the testimony of the prosecution, the confessional statements of the five accused, the surrounding evidence and the statements of both sides, the court said, ‘Major (retd.) Sinha Md. Rashed Khan reached Cox’s Bazar along with Sahedul Islam and Shripa Debnath and Rupti on July 2, 2020 to capture videos and stills of hills, jungles, sea-beach areas for YouTube called ‘Just Go’. Later, on July 7, while staying at Neelima Resort and taking videos and stills of various places in Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf and Ramu areas as planned, the then OC of Teknaf Police Station Pradeep Kumar Das and some members of his force came to know about various illegal activities including extortion, disappearance, crossfire. The victim’s statement was recorded on video, which was proved in the prosecution’s evidence.
The judgment also said that Pradeep Kumar Das, informed through the source, threatened the victim Major (Retd) Sinha to leave the area by mid-July 2020 to desist from the said activities, as proved by the prosecution’s evidence and strong circumstantial evidence. Despite such threats by the accused Pradip Kumar Das, the victim (Sinha) did not leave the area with his team but continued his activities while Pradip Kumar Das accompanied Liakat Ali, Nanddulal Rakshit, Sagar Dev, Rubel Sharma, Md. Ruhul Amin, Md. Ayaz alias Ayash and Md. Nizam Uddin Victim Major (Retd.) Sinha Md. Accused Nurul Amin, Ayaz and Md. as sources for providing information by conspiring to kill Rashed Khan and monitoring the movement of the victim. The responsibility was given to Nizam Uddin. Sinha and Saidul Islam stayed at Marishbunia Muinna Hill of Teknaf police station and while returning to Neelima Resort, they were arrested as a part of the conspiracy to kill the bandit in a mass beating. Ayaz and Nizam Uddin’s crimes were proved by confessional statements and corroborating testimony of two prosecution witnesses.
That’s why the six accused were given life sentences
The six accused who have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court are former SI Nanddulal Rakshit, Constable Rubel Sharma and Sagar Dev, Md. of Marishbunia village in Baharchhara, Cox’s Bazar. Nurul Amin, Mohammad Ayaz and Md. Nizam Uddin
The High Court said in its full judgment regarding the six defendants, as the charges of conspiracy, assistance and common intention in the said murder have been proven beyond doubt, the judicial court has analyzed the nature of the crime committed by them and awarded life imprisonment instead of the death penalty mentioned in Section 302 of the Penal Code, which we think is correct and reasonable. That is why there is no scope for interfering with the judgment.
It is to be noted that on July 31, 2020, at 9:30 pm, Sinha was shot dead by Inspector Liaquat Ali, the then officer of Police’s Baharchhara Investigation Center at Shamlapur checkpoint on Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive road. The District and Sessions Judge Court of Cox’s Bazar gave a verdict on January 31, 2022 in the case. OC Pradeep Kumar Das and Inspector Md. Liaquat Ali was sentenced to death and six other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. The death reference came before the High Court in 2022 to approve the death sentence of the accused. The defendants filed separate jail appeals and appeals against the sentence. Apart from this, Sharmin Shahria Ferdous, the plaintiff in the case and Sinha’s sister, filed a criminal revision petition in the High Court against those who were acquitted by the judgment of the judicial court and seeking an increase in the sentence of the six who were sentenced to life.
On June 2, the High Court announced its judgment by accepting the death reference, rejecting the jail appeals and appeals of the convicted accused and dismissing the plaintiff’s revision petition (rule dismissed). The full judgment was published on the Supreme Court website today.
