In the case of the 10-truck arms smuggling incident in Chittagong, former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and five others have been acquitted of the death penalty. The High Court commuted the sentences of six other convicts, who were previously sentenced to death by the lower court, to 10 years in prison. Additionally, Paresh Barua, the military commander of India’s separatist group ULFA, who was also sentenced to death, has had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday by a High Court bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akhter after hearing the death reference and appeals of the convicts. However, Lutfozzaman Babar will not be released immediately due to his conviction in another case.
The defense for Lutfozzaman Babar and Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami was led by lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir, while Deputy Attorney General Sultana Akter Ruby and Assistant Attorney General Md. Asif Imran Jisan represented the state. Advocate Shishir Monir later commented that Babar was falsely implicated in the case for political reasons and that the prosecution failed to present credible evidence or witnesses against him. He further added that Babar was made the prime accused based on the findings of a second investigation. The court acquitted Babar, acknowledging he was a victim of political motivations and that there was no specific evidence against him.
Others acquitted in the case include Mohsin Uddin Talukder, the then-managing director of the state-run Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL), former general manager (administration) KM Enamul Haque, former director of the Defense Intelligence Directorate Major General (Retd.) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, former Minister of Industries Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, and former additional secretary of the Ministry of Industries Nurul Amin. The court noted that Maulana Nizami’s appeal was disposed of due to his passing, and Nurul Amin was acquitted as the prosecution failed to prove the charges against him, considering he had been a fugitive since the beginning of the trial.
Reduced Sentences for Six Convicts:
The High Court reduced the death sentences of six convicts to 10 years of imprisonment. These convicts include Akbar Hossain Khan, then-field officer of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), former deputy director Major (Retd.) Liakat Hossain, former director Wing Commander (Retd.) Shahab Uddin Ahmed, smuggler Hafizur Rahman, labor supplier Din Mohammad, and trawler owner Haji Sobhan. The judicial court had also imposed a fine of 500,000 BDT on each of them, which the High Court revised to 10,000 BDT. Brigadier General (Retd.) Md. Abdur Rahim, the former director-general of NSI, who had also been sentenced to death and fined, was excluded from the appeal as he passed away. The High Court, however, reduced his fine to 10,000 BDT.
The case stems from the seizure of a shipment of 10 truckloads of arms from the CUFL jetty on April 1, 2004. Following this, two cases were filed at the Karnaphuli Police Station under the Arms Act and the Special Powers Act. On January 30, 2014, the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court and Special Tribunal-1 sentenced 14 individuals to death, including former Industries Minister and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Motiur Rahman Nizami, former State Minister Lutfozzaman Babar, ULFA military commander Paresh Barua, and senior officials of two intelligence agencies. The case was forwarded to the High Court for review on February 6, 2014, and the convicted individuals filed separate appeals against their sentences that year.
