Live Correspondent: A court here today sentenced former Teknaf Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Pradip Kumar Das and former In-charge of Baharchora Police Investigation Centre Inspector Liakat Ali to death in the sensational Major (retd) Sinha Md Rashid Khan murder trial.

Cox's Bazar District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Ismail pronounced the judgment in presence of all 15 accused at the crowded courtroom. The court also sentenced sub-inspector Nanda Dulal Rakshit, constable Rubel Sharma, ASI Sagar Deb, Nurul Amin, Nezam Uddin and Mohammad Ayaz Uddin to life imprisonment.

The seven other accused including Armed Police Battalion (APBn) sub-inspector Mohammad Shahjahan, constables Mohammad Rajib and Mohammad Abdullah were acquitted from the case as the charges framed against them were not proved.

Major Sinha was shot dead by police at the Shamlapur check post in Teknaf on the night of July 31, 2020 as he was shooting videos for his YouTube channel in the village of Marishbunia before the incident.

Later, Sinha's sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous filed a case against nine policemen, including former OC of Teknaf police station Pradip Kumar Das and former In-charge of Baharchora Police Investigation Centre Inspector Liakat Ali, with Cox's Bazar court on August 5, six days after the killing.

The court took cognizance of the case and assigned Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to investigate. After the investigation, RAB-15 Cox's Bazar Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Khairul Islam indicted 15 people and issued charge-sheet on December 13, 2020.

Then on June 27, 2021, the court ordered to start trial against the 15 accused. From August 23, 2021 to December 1, 2021, about 65 out of 83 witnesses testified in eight phases while the accused testified in court on December 6 and 7.

Finally, the judicial proceedings came to an end when the lawyers of both the parties presented arguments in the case from January 9 to 12 while the court set January 31 (today) for announcing the verdict.

Dhaka, 31 January (campuslive24.com)//BSC