HC upholds lower court verdict on Lalbagh 7-murder

The High Court has upheld a lower court verdict awarding death sentence for 2, life in prison for 9 and a 10-year jail term for a 12th convict over the 1994 murder of 7 people in Lalbagh area in the city. The bench of Justices Quamrul Islam Siddiqui and AKM Zahirul Hoque gave the order on Thursday. It also ordered three of the defendants including BNP leader Abdul Aziz Miah to surrender by 30 days. They are currently released on bail. Awami League-backed candidate Humayun Kabir was elected as Ward 59 commissioner in the Dhaka City Corporation elections on Jan 30, 1994. His supporters took out a rally the next day, when supporters of Miah, who lost the polls, attacked them. The incident left six people dead on the spot while another died later in hospital. The lower court had awarded death sentence to Adbus Salam and Jahid Hasan. Abdul Alim, Munir Patowary, Mahtab Hossain, ‘Delwar’, Amir Hossain, Dil Md Moti, ‘Kanu’, ‘Mojammel’ and ‘Munna’ had got life in prison. Abdul Aziz Miah was given a 10-year jail term. All the others convicted are his supporters. Two of those who got life are absconding, three including Miah are on bail while the others are in jail.