The judge has started reading out the verdict in the murder case of former army officer Major Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan. Judge Mohammad Ismail of the Cox’s Bazar District and Sessions Judge’s Court began reading the verdict in the presence of 15 accused, including the dismissed OC Pradeep Kumar Das, at 2.25am on Monday (January 31). OC Pradeep was seen standing in a corner of the courtroom in a state of anxiety and sadness.
Earlier, 15 accused, including nine policemen, three APBN members and three locals, were brought to the court around 2pm.
The accused in the case are: Dismissed OC of Teknaf Police Station Pradeep Kumar Das, dismissed Inspector of Shamlapur Police Investigation Center of Baharchhara Union Liaquat Ali, bodyguard of Pradeep Rubel Sharma, dismissed Sub-Inspector (SI) of Baharchhara Police Investigation Center, Som. Abdullah Al Mamun, Dismissed Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Liton Mia, Dismissed Constable Sagar Dev, Dismissed APBN Sub-Inspector (SI) Md Shahjahan, Dismissed constables Md Rajib and Md Abdullah, Nurul Amin, Md Nezamuddin and Ayaz Uddin of Marishbunia village in Shamlapur of Baharchhara union. Sinha’s family wants the maximum punishment for all the accused involved in the incident.
It can be seen on the spot that there was tight security in the court premises of Cox’s Bazar since morning following the verdict in Sinha murder case. Arriving at the court very early in the morning, the security forces had to cross several obstacles to get from the main gate to the court. Such strict security measures are quite rare for the verdict of a case outside Dhaka. Such tight security measures have only recently been observed during the verdicts of top war criminals at the Dhaka International Criminal Tribunal. Long before the judge arrived, the courtroom was buzzing with journalists and lawyers. Apart from the local journalists, various media workers from Dhaka have also come to the Cox’s Bazar court.
Along with the family, the prosecution is expecting maximum punishment for the accused in the case. Defendants say the state failed to prove the allegations against the defendants. So they will be released.
Retired Army Major Sinha Mohammad Rashed was shot dead by police at the APBN checkpost at Shamlapur in Baharchhara on the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive on the night of July 31, 2020. The police filed three cases (two in Teknaf and one in Ramu) as plaintiffs.