Ex-state minister Babar, 4 others acquitted

The High Court on Tuesday acquitted former state minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and four others in a case filed under the Arms Act in connection with the smuggling of 10-truck arms.
At the same time, the court commuted the conviction of Paresh Baruah, a leader of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), and four others in the case.

The High Court bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter delivered the verdict after holding a hearing on the appeals filed against the trial court sentences in the case.
All the accused were given life term imprisonment by the trial court in the case.
The four other acquitted people are- Mohsin Talukder, the then managing director of Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL), AKM Enamul Haque, the then general manager (Administration) of CUFL, Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury,  former director general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), and Nurul Amin, former additional secretary of Industries Ministry.
Apart from this, the HC commuted Paresh Barua's life term imprisonment to 14 years. It also shortens the life term imprisonment of convict Akbar Hossain, Liakat Hossain, Hafizur Rahman and Shahabuddin to 10 years each.
The High Court also acquitted Abdur Rahim, Matiur Rahman Nizami, Deen Mohammad and Haji Abdus Sobhan as the four have already died. The court declared their appeals as abated.
Law enforcers and coast guard personnel seized 10 truckloads of arms, ammunition and explosives while those were being off-loaded in the CUFL jetty area at the south-east bank of the river Karnaphuli on the night of April 1, 2004.
On April 2 in 2004, two separate cases were lodged with the Karnaphuli Police Station a day after the arms were seized.
One case was filed under the Special Powers Act 1974 for smuggling of firearms and the other was lodged under the Arms Act for illegal possession of firearms.
Earlier on December 18, the HC acquitted former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar and five others, who were sentenced to death by the trial court, in the Special Powers Act case.
Mohammad Shishir Manir, a counsel of Babar, told the reporters that now there is no legal bar to release Babar from jail.
He further said, "The court said it will issue an advance order today (Tuesday). Hopefully, this order will arrive immediately and the accused including Babar will be released within the shortest time."
Lutfozzaman Babar is now imprisoned in the Keraniganj Central Jail in Dhaka.
The trial court on January 30, 2014, sentenced 14 people, including Matiur Rahman Nizami and Lutfozzaman Babar, to death in the case lodged under the Special Powers Act. The court also sentenced them to life term imprisonment in the case filed under the Arms Act.
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