Judge KM Tofayel Hasan of the Manikganj District and Sessions court delivered the verdict on Thursday
A Manikganj court has sentenced five people to death in a triple murder case in Singair. At the same time, eight other suspects were sentenced to life in prison and seven others to various prison terms.
District and Sessions Judge SKM Tofail Hasan delivered the verdict around 12:30pm on Thursday in the presence of all the accused, said Public Prosecutor (PP) Nurtaz Alam Bahar.
Those sentenced to death are Md Zia Uddin, Mohammad Zahidul Islam, Abdur Rashid, Jasim and Siddiq Mia.
The eight sentenced to life in prison are Md Zahir Uddin, Azizul, Ujjal, Md Shamsul Haque, Salauddin, Majed Mia, Md Moran and Swapan.
These 13 suspects have also been fined Tk 20,000 each.
In addition, Shamim and Habu Mia were sentenced to five years in prison and fined Tk 10,000 each, with two more months in prison if they fail to pay.
Majnu Mia was sentenced to one year in prison, Razia Khatun and Sufia Khatun were sentenced to six months in prison, and Sahera and Khatuni were sentenced to three months in prison.
In addition, four people were acquitted as the charges against them were not proven. They were identified as Ujjwal, Oli Ahad, Shukur Jola and Raja Jola.
PP Nurtaz, speaking on the details of the case, said that a woman named Hasina from Singair had lived in Bahrain. Since she had no husband or children, a dispute arose between the siblings over the ownership of her property and the money left behind after her death.
According to the allegations in the case, Hasina's sister Razia Khatun, her husband and sons continued to occupy her property and retain her money. Despite several local arbitrations, the dispute could not be resolved.
An arbitration meeting to resolve the dispute was scheduled for 10am on Feb 21, 2016. However, at around 7:45am that day, Jasim called his uncle Tendul Molla, Karim Molla and Aziz Molla to Shamsul Haque's house.
When they arrived, it is alleged that Jasim and the other accused attacked them with machetes, iron rods, bamboo sticks, and other makeshift weapons on the orders of Razia.
Aziz, Tendul and Karim were seriously injured in the attack and later died of their injuries.
The next day, Md Farida Akhter filed a murder case with Singair Police over the incident.
On Apr 28, 2017, Singair Police Inspector Aminul Islam filed a chargesheet in court accusing 24 suspects over the incident.
PP Nurtaz said the court gave its verdict on Thursday after hearing the testimonies of 21 witnesses.