6 to walk gallows for murder in Bagerhat

A court in Bagerhat on Thursday sentenced six people, including two siblings, to death while two others to life term imprisonment for killing a shrimp enclosure owner in Morelganj upazila in 2003. The condemned convicts are Habib Hawladar, his brother Mostafa Hawladar, Bellal Forazi, Shahid Mollik, Ali Azim Forazi and Labhlu Khan. All the condemned convicts are at large. The lifers are Abzal Khan and Ansar Akon. The court also fined them Tk 10,000 each and they will have to suffer one year more rigorous imprisonment if they fail to pay the fine. According to the prosecution, Zafar Jomaddar, a shrimp enclosure owner, was chopped to death and thrown into the shrimp enclosure by the convicts following a dispute over the shrimp enclosure land at Baharbunia in Morelganj upazila on July 15, 2003. A case was filed by the deceased's wife with Morelganj Police Station on July 16, 2003. A chargesheet was submitted by IO Abdul Matin of Bagerhat DB police against 13 people. After examining the records and witnesses, district and sessions judge AM Solaiman pronounced the verdict, according to UNB.