Mufti Abdul Hannan, chief of a faction of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad Bangladesh (HuJI), was hanged at Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur on Wednesday.
HuJI leader and two of his accomplices, Sharif Shahedul alias Bipul and Delwar Hossain alias Ripon, had to walk the gallows for grenade attack on the then UK envoy Anwar Choudhury in 2004 as the president has turned down their clemency pleas.
Mufti Hannan and Sharif Shahedul alias Bipul were hanged in the Kashimpur Jail while Delwar Hossain alias Ripon in the SylhetCentral Jail at 10:01am
The Jail authorities announced their execution. Main hangmen Raju Mia and his two associates Sariful Islam and Iqbal Hosan hanged him at the Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur on Wednesday evening.
Mizanur Rahman, senior jail super of Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur said: "Hannan's wife Zakia Parvin, two daughters -- Nishi Khanam and Nazrin Khanam -- and elder brother Aliuzzaman Munshi met Hannan in the jail around 7:45am."
The jail authorities on Wednesday asked the family members of Hannan and another militant Sharif Shahedul alias Bipul to meet them at the jail gate. Both of them accused of the 2004 grenade attack on the then UK High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury in Sylhet are now in Kashimpur jail.
Sagir Mian, Senior Jail Super of the Sylhet Central Jail said the family members of Delwar Hossain alias Ripon, the other condemned militant of the HuJI, met him at Sylhet Central Jail around 2:00pm on Tuesday,
The authorities this evening beefed up security in and around the Kashimpur jail, where condemned HuJI militant Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul was kept with Hannan.
Nearby roads are made off-limit for commoners and business establishments within 500 yards of the jail kept their shutters down.
Two ambulances were seen entering the jail around 6:30pm, reports our correspondent from the spot. Deputy Inspector General (prison) Touhidul Islam and Addition Inspector General (prison) Iqbal Hossain entered the jail at 6:37 and 7:33pm respectively.
As per the jail code, the jail authorities can execute a death-row convict between 21st and 28th day from the date of issuance of death warrants.
The Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal issued death warrants for the militants on March 22 and Wednesday is the 22nd day.
Earlier in December last year, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalties for the HuJI militants, including Mufti Hannan, for carrying out the grenade attack.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said death-row convict Mufti Hannan could be executed anytime on Wednesday.
All the legal preparations to execute his death have been completed. It will be done at anytime," he said while talking to journalists at his secretariat office on Wednesday,
Three people were killed and some 70 others, including Anwar Choudhury, injured in the May 21, 2004 grenade attack at Shahjalal Shrine in Sylhet after the Juma prayers.
The Bangladesh-born British diplomat suffered minor leg injuries barely 18 days into his new assignment.
Police Assistant Sub-inspector Kamal Uddin died instantly. Constable Rubel Ahmed and one Habil Miah succumbed to their injuries in a hospital later.
Mufti Hannan and the two other death-row convicts challenged the decision at the Appellate Division, which on Dec 7 last year upheld the sentences.
As the last legal option, they filed a petition for a review of the verdict, which was also turned down last month. As the last-ditch attempt to save their lives they filed a mercy petition to the president. The President too rejected their mercy petition.
