Narayanganj: A court here today sentenced seven people to life imprisonment for the murder of garment worker Sakhawat Hossain Shuvro in Fatullah upazila of the district in 2017. District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Abu Shamim Azad handed down the verdict this afternoon. The court also fined each convict Taka 50,000, with an additional two years of rigorous imprisonment if they fail to pay it.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, of the seven convicts, five were present in court while two remain absconding when the verdict was announced, said court police inspector Mohammad Abdus Samad. The convicts are Babul Saha Jibon, Nazmul Islam, Sanjay Das, Samir Chandra Mondal, Kawsar, Milon, and Bashir. Babul Saha Jibon and Kawsar are currently absconding.
According to the case documents, Shuvro worked at Plummy Fashions, an export-oriented garment factory in the North Narsingpur area of Fatullah. On August 15, 2017, Babul Saha Jibon allegedly called Shuvro on his mobile phone and asked him to come to the seventh floor of an under-construction building in Masdair, Fatullah. The prosecution said that the accused then assaulted Shuvro on the head and strangled him to death as part of a premeditated plan.
Later that night, around 9 pm, the accused allegedly left Shuvro's body at the emergency department of the 300-bed Khanpur Hospital in Narayanganj in an attempt to divert the investigation before fleeing the scene. Following the incident, Shuvro's father, Shahadat Hossain, filed a murder case with Fatullah Police Station, naming the seven accused.
The court delivered the verdict after recording testimony from 29 witnesses during the lengthy trial, the sources added.