Staff Reporter:

A court in Sirajganj has sentenced three people, including a mother and her daughter, to life imprisonment in two separate drug cases. The court also fined each convict Tk 10,000, in default of which they will have to serve an additional two years of non-rigorous imprisonment.

Judge Laila Sharmin of the Additional District and Sessions Judge Court-3 in Sirajganj handed down the verdicts on Wednesday (September 2) afternoon. All three convicts were absconding when the judgments were announced.

Confirming the matter, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) of the court Shamsuzzoha Shahan Shah stated that the court delivered life sentences to three persons across two separate drug trafficking cases.

The convicts are Maruf ul Islam, son of Nurul Islam from Palashpara village in Gaibandha district; Mobashera Begum, wife of Habibur Rahman; and her daughter Selina Begum, wife of Liton Miah, both from Taluk Pashuram village under Pirgachha Police Station in Rangpur district.

According to the case documents, on the night of December 3, 2012, police set up a checkpoint at the Jamuna Bridge West Roundabout area and searched passing vehicles. During a search of a Dhaka-bound passenger bus of ‘Khaleq Enterprise’ coming from Rangpur, police detained Mobashera Begum and her daughter Selina Begum along with 70 bottles of Indian Phensedyl. Sub-Inspector Abdullah Al Mamun of Jamuna Bridge West Police Station filed a case over the incident.

In the second case, members of RAB-12 set up a checkpoint in the same area on March 9, 2013. Around 2:00 AM, they signaled a Dhaka-bound passenger bus of ‘Nahar Enterprise’ coming from Chapainawabganj to stop. During a search, RAB personnel detained passenger Maruf ul Islam after recovering 79 bottles of Indian Phensedyl from a bag kept near his feet. RAB-12 Police Inspector Jahidul Islam filed a case regarding the seizure.

Following the trial process, the court found all three accused guilty and delivered the verdicts on Wednesday.