A prosecution witness in the Ahsanullah Master, MP murder case yesterday told a court that he could not disclose the names of the MP's killers to the investigation officer (IO) for the sake of his children's security.

Advocate Ajmatullah Khan,

chairman of Tongi Municipality, gave his deposition before Judge Shahed Noor Uddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1, describing how a group of assailants of Jubo Dal leader Nurul Islam Sarker carried out the attack on May 7 of last year.

He was also cross-examined by a defence lawyer on behalf of some of the accused. He will be crossexamined again at the same court at 2:00pm today.

In his deposition, Ajmat told the court that he was present at the scene of the crime (PO) and recognised the killers of the MP. But he could not disclose the names of the killers to the IO during the investigation as the killers exploded bombs in front of his residence. Moreover, the killers threatened him not to disclose their names or he would be killed, the witness added.

Ajmat also said he disclosed the names of the killers to the court as he wanted justice for the heinous and gruesome killings.

Twelve of 30 accused in the case were present on the dock during the hearing. Of the accused, Kabir Hossain, Ayub, Pappu Sarker and Alamin are on bail while Dipu and 17 others are still at large.