A Dhaka court on Tuesday acquitted former student leader and Jatiya Party lawmaker Golam Faruq Ovi, in his absentia, in a case filed over the murder of model Syeda Tania Mahbub Tinni in 2002.
Judge Mosammat Shahinur Akhter of Dhaka 2nd Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court pronounced the judgment.
In the judgment, the judge said the prosecution has completely failed to prove the charges brought against the lone accused of the case. So, the accused has been acquitted from the charges, the court said.
None of the victim's family was present at the court during the judgment.
Earlier, the prosecution and the state-appointed lawyer completed their arguments and the court recorded statements of 26 prosecution witnesses, including the complainant of the case.
During the trial, Tinni's father Syed Mahbub Karim on February 5 of 2022 gave his statements before the court and sought exemplary punishment for the accused in the case.
On November 10 of 2002, police recovered Tinni's body from under China-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge over the Buriganga River and a case was filed with Keraniganj Police Station on the same day.
The next day, the then Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Keraniganj Police Station Md Safi Uddin filed a case against an unknown accused.
According to the case records, model Tinni's body was found on November 10 night in 2002, next to pillar number 11 of China Friendship Bridge number 1 on Buriganga River in Keraniganj.
After that, CID inspector Sujaul Haque, assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Golam Mostafa, ASP Arman Ali, ASP Kamal Krishna Bharadwaj and ASP Mozammel Haque were given the responsibility of investigating the case. The last investigating officer, Mozammel Haque, submitted the charge sheet to the court.
Although former Jatiya Party MP Golam Faruk Ovi was initially accused in the investigation, the police could not arrest him.
In Ovi's absence, on July 14, 2010, the seventh additional district and sessions judge of Dhaka framed charges against Ovi in the case related to Tinni's murder and disappearance of the body.
According to the charge sheet, Ovi murdered Tinni when she became persistent in her demand to give her social recognition through marriage.
Soon after the murder, Ovi moved to Canada after securing bail and challenging a 1992 trial court verdict, which sentenced him to 17 years in jail in an arms case.
Following the charge sheet, the court issued an arrest warrant against Ovi, asking him to appear before it on different dates, but Ovi did not comply with the court order.
