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On April 14, 2001, two bombs exploded during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations organised by Chhayanaut at Ramna Batamul in the capital. The blasts killed 10 people and injured several others.

In its verdict, the HC commuted the death sentence of one to life imprisonment; reduced the death sentences of six others to 10 years’ imprisonment; and commuted the life sentences of three to 10 years in jail as well.

The bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter delivered the verdict after rejecting the death reference (trial court documents required to confirm death sentences) and disposing of the appeals filed by the convicts.

It observed that the bombings during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations at Ramna Batamul in 2001 constituted one of the most brutal killings in the country’s history.

Citing the Holy Quran and Al Hadith, Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam remarked that killing a single person is akin to destroying the entire world.

The HC upheld the life imprisonment of Shahadat Ullah Jewel and commuted the death sentence of Moulana Mohammad Tajuddin, who remains absconding, to life imprisonment.

The six convicts whose death sentences were commuted to 10 years in prison are: Mufti Abdul Hye, Arif Hasan Sumon alias Abdur Razzak, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Moulana Akbar Hossain alias Helal Uddin, Moulana Abu Baker alias Hafez Selim Howlader, and Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar, who is also on the run.

The court also commuted the life sentences of Hafez Moulana Abu Taher, Moulana Sabbir alias Abdul Hannan, and Moulana Showkat Osman to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Mufti Abdul Hannan, who used to be a key figure in Huji operations across Bangladesh, had also been sentenced to death in the Ramna murder case but was executed on April 13, 2017, at Kashimpur High Security Prison in a separate case. It was filed over a grenade attack on then British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury in Sylhet on May 21, 2004.

Meanwhile, Moulana Yahiya died in jail on August 3, 2019, while Moulana Abdur Rouf died in custody on September 7, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Sultana Akter Rubi told The Daily Star. Both had been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Ramna murder case.

She added that the convicts who have already served their sentences in the murder case cannot be released if they have been arrested in the other case filed under the Explosive Substances Act relating to the same incident.

The trial proceedings of the case, filed under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, are currently underway at a Dhaka court, said DAG Sultana, noting that all the convicts are leaders of the banned militant outfit Huji.

Many of them allegedly returned from Afghanistan, she added.

“The grounds on which the High Court commuted the sentences will be known once the full text of the verdict is released,” the DAG said.

Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir, who defended convicts Mufti Abdul Hye, Arif Hasan Sumon and Shahadat Ullah Jewel, told this correspondent that his clients will be released from jail as they have already served their sentences in the murder case and are currently on bail in the case filed under the Explosive Substances Act.

“They’ll be released after the High Court verdict reaches the jail authorities,” he said.

On February 18 this year, the HC kept the death references and appeals filed by the convicts as curia advisari vult, meaning the judgment was reserved for delivery at a later date following the conclusion of the hearings.

On June 23, 2014, a Dhaka court sentenced eight Huji members to death for their roles in the attack. They are: Mufti Abdul Hannan, Moulana Akbar Hossain alias Helaluddin, Moulana Mohammad Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar, Moulana Abu Bakar alias Selim Hawlader, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hye, and Arif Hasan Suman.

Six others -- Moulana Abu Taher, Moulana Sabbir alias Abdul Hannan, Moulana Yahiya, Moulana Shawkat Osman, Moulana Abdur Rouf, and Shahadat Ullah -- were sentenced to life imprisonment.

During the hearings, a team of defence lawyers, including SM Shahjahan and Mohammad Shishir Manir, represented the convicts, while DAG Sultana Akter Rubi appeared for the state.