DHAKA, March 13, 2024 (BSS) - A court here today convicted and sentenced two people to life imprisonment in a case lodged over the sensational murder of Sagira Morshed in the capital's Bailey Road area in 1989.
 
The court, however, acquitted three including Sagira’s brother-in-law Dr Hasan Ali Chowdhury, his wife Sayedatul Mahmuda, allegedly the plotters behind the killing, as the prosecution couldn’t prove the charges framed against them. The other accused, who was freed by the court, is Montu Morol.
 
Judge Mohammad Ali Hossain of Dhaka Special Sessions Judge Court pronounced the judgment, sentencing Sayedatul Mahmuda's brother Anas Mahmud alias Rezwan and contract killer Maruf Reza to life imprisonment. The court also fined them Taka 50,000 or to suffer six months more behind the bars, in default.
 
Sagira Morshed, 34, was gunned down by unidentified miscreants in front of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in the capital's Bailey Road on July 25, 1989.
 
Sagira's husband Salam Chowdhury filed the case on that day with Ramna Police Station against unidentified miscreants. A rickshaw puller, who was present at the crime scene, identified two of the killers, but police had filed the initial charge-sheet against one Montu Morol.
 
Dhaka First Additional Sessions Judge Abu Bakar Siddique on January 17, 1991, framed charges against Montu and testimonies of seven witnesses were also recorded.
 
But during the hearing, the prosecution alleged the name of Maruf Reza, close relative of the then Home Minister Mahmudul Hasan, came up during the investigation and he was also arrested. But his name was dropped from the charge-sheet.
 
Following a plea of the prosecution, the court on May 23, 1991, ordered for further investigation. But the proceeding of the case was stayed by the High Court as Maruf Reza filed a petition, challenging the further investigation order.
 
The High Court on June 26, 2019, cleared the way for continuing the murder case as it dismissed the rule that had stayed the trial proceedings.
 
A High Court division bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the order, asking Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to conduct further investigation into the case and complete it within 60 working days.
 
PBI, after that, arrested the four, Sagira's brother-in-law Dr Hasan Ali Chowdhury, his wife Sayedatul Mahmuda, Mahmuda's brother Anas Mahmud alias Rezwan and contract killer Maruf Reza, and they have already confessed their role in the killing of Sagira.
 
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court on December 2, 2021, framed charges against the four. A Total of 17 witnesses testified in the case on different hearing dates.