COX'S BAZAR, Jan, 31: A court here has handed down death penalty to former Teknaf Police Station OC Pradeep Kumar Das, former Sub-Inspector Liakat Ali for killing retired Maj (Retd) Sinha Md Rashed Khan on July 31 in 2020.
Besides, the court sentenced six others to life term imprisonment while acquitted seven others as allegation brought against them could not be proven.
The six are dismissed Sub-Inspector (SI) Nandadulal Rakkhit, constables Sagar Deb and Rubel Sharma and police informants Md Nezamuddin, Nurul Amin and Ayaz Uddin.
Md Nezamuddin, Ruhul Amin and Ayaz Uddin were also fined Tk 50,000, in default, they will have to serve six more months in jail.
The acquitted accused in the case are the then Baharchhara police investigation centre assistant sub-inspector Liton Mia and
constables Safanur Karim, Kamal Hossain and Abdullah Al Mamun and the then Cox's Bazar-based Armed Police Battalion sub-inspector Shahjahan and constables Rajib and Abdullah, said Mohammad Jahangir, a lawyer representing the plaintiff of the case.
The District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Ismail pronounced the verdict in presence of the accused on Monday.
At night on July 31 in 2020, Maj (Retd) Sinha Md Rashed Khan was killed in police firing at Baharchhara police check-post on Marine Drive Road in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar district.
The 36-year-old former army officer, who served at the Special Security Force tasked with guarding the President and Prime Minister, had gone into early retirement to pursue his interests.
Police then conducted a raid in Nilima resort where Sinha had been staying and arrested two members of his video team, Shipra Debnath and Tahsin Rifat Nur. Though Tahsin was later released, police arrested Shipra and Sifat and sent them to jail. The two were later released on bail.
Of the four cases, police filed three cases, two with Teknaf police station and one with Ramu police station. Two cases were filed over narcotics and another for attacking police
He had been staying at a resort in Cox's Bazar's Himchhari with three others for around a month to film a travel documentary.
On August 5, five days after the incident, Sinha's elder sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous filed a murder case with Teknaf Senior Judicial Magistrate Court, accusing former Teknaf Police Station OC Pradeep Kumar Das, sub-inspector Liakat Ali, sub-inspector Nandadul and six others. Besides, police also filed three cases (Two with Teknaf Police Station and one with Ramu Police Station) being the plaintiff. The four cases were later handed over to the RAB-15 for investigation.
Later, on August 6, 2020, seven policemen, including Pradeep and Liakat, surrendered to the court. They were also suspended from their jobs.
During the investigation, the RAB-15 arrested seven more people including three local villagers, three members of Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and OC Pradeep's bodyguard as their involvement was found in Sinha murder.
Later, on June 24 in 2020, chargesheeted accused constable Sagar Deb surrendered to the court. With his surrender, all the 15 accused were brought under the law.
On December 13 in 2020, Investigation Officer (IO) and RAB-15 Cox's Bazar's Senior Assistant Police Superintendent Md Khairul Islam submitted charge-sheet in the case to the court, accusing 15 persons including OC Pradeep Kumar Das and Liakat Ali.
In the charge-sheet, the IO termed Sinha murder as a "planned and cold-blooded murder" mentioning the names of 83 persons as witnesses.
