Barisal Bureau:
The court in Barisal has acquitted all the accused in the chargesheet in the 2014 Mumtaz Begum murder case. Judge Mostaq Ahmed of the Barisal Speedy Trial Tribunal and Special Sessions Court gave the verdict on Wednesday afternoon (April 16). The accused were present when the verdict was announced. While the accused expressed satisfaction with the verdict, the plaintiff expressed anger.
The acquitted accused are Md. Babul Howlader, son of Aziz Howlader of South Sagardir in Barisal city, Md. Zahidul Islam Babu, son of Shajahan Howlader of North Rupatali, Md. Joynal Abedin Rubel, son of Sirajul Haque Gazi, and Md. Arif, son of Md. Anich Mollah of South Sagardir.
According to the case details, on November 10, 2014, around 4 pm, miscreants hacked to death Momtaz Begum, the wife of Karim Howlader, a resident of Momtaz Villa adjacent to Fakirbari School on North Rupatali Sagardi Road in Ward No. 25 of the city.
Alamgir Hossain, the brother of Momtaz Begum, who was killed that day, filed a murder case with Kotwali Police Station.
The case was initially investigated by Kotwali Model Police Station’s investigation officer SI Delwar Hossain and a charge sheet was filed, but the plaintiff in the case, Alamgir Hossain, objected to it. The court then directed the CID to investigate further.
CID Police Inspector Jasmine Akhter Pallabi filed a chargesheet in court on April 19, 2016, accusing the four acquitted defendants.
In the investigation report, CID Police Inspector Jasmine Akhter Pallabi mentioned that accused number 2 in the chargesheet, Md. Zahidul Islam Babu, was arrested and gave a statement under Section 164 in the Barisal Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
In his statement, accused Md. Zahidul Islam Babu said that on November 6, 2014, he came to Babul’s tea shop in front of Momtaz Begum’s house. All the accused planned to pressure Momtaz Begum to extort money. But accused Md. Zahidul Islam Babu did not agree to this. Then on November 10, at around 3:30 pm, the accused came back to Babul’s shop, from there they went to Momtaz Begum’s house. And accused Md. Zahidul Islam Babu was left in a guardhouse in front of the house. After half an hour, Rubel came out covered in blood and said that when Momtaz aunt did not give him the key to the cupboard, Arif and a boy pulled him and he (Rubel) beat him with a stick and beat him indiscriminately. Momtaz Begum died due to injuries sustained in the attack. After that, accused Arif, Rubel and Babul fled. The next day, on November 15, the police arrested accused Md. Zahidul Islam Babu. After their arrest, the accused gave statements in court under Section 164, stating that they were directly involved in the murder.
Advocate Mohsin Montu, PP of the Barisal Speedy Trial Tribunal and Special Sessions Court, said that the verdict will be appealed to the High Court. The acquittal of all the accused in such a murder case cannot be accepted. Further legal action will be taken after receiving a copy of the verdict.
In this regard, Alamgir Hossain, the plaintiff in the case, said that he has not received justice for the murder of his sister even after a decade. He said that he will appeal against the verdict in the High Court.
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