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According to the report, a two-member bench led by Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam pronounced the verdict
ULFA-I Military Wing Chief Paresh Barua. (Photo: PTI/FILE)
A Bangladesh High Court Bench on Wednesday acquitted former Home Affairs Minister Lutfozzaman Babar and five others, who were sentenced to death, in the 2004 Chattogram 10-truck arms haul case. The High Court bench also commuted the death sentence of United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) military commander Paresh Barua to 10-year jail, according to Ptothom Alo.
According to the report, a two-member bench led by Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam pronounced the verdict.
The five others to get acquittal include the former director of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, ex-CUFL managing director Mohsin Talukder, former CUFL general manager (admin) Enamul Hoque, former additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin and Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami.
According to The Daily Star, Nizami was executed in May 2016 for crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971.
The high court bench was hearing Babar’s December 11 plea for acquittal in the case
2004 Chattogram Arms Haul Case
The case dates back to April 1, 2004, when 10 trucks of arms were seized at jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL) CUFL ghat on the Karnaphuli River.
This is believed to be the largest arms smuggling incident in the history of Bangladesh.
Investigators believed that delivery was intended ULFA-I, a militant group seeking the independence of Assam from India and considered responsible for causing thousands of deaths since 1979. Its military wing chief, Paresh Baruah then living in Dhaka, was among the 50 persons ultimately charged.
Case Timeline
Two cases were filed in connection with this matter under the Arms Act and Special Powers Act at the Karnaphuli Police Station in Chattogram. On January 30, 2014, the Chattogram Sessions Judge Court and Special Tribunal-1 delivered the verdict.
The trial court sentenced 14 individuals, including former industries minister and Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Matiur Rahman Nizami (executed in another case), Lutfozzaman Babar, Paresh Barua, and the heads of two intelligence agencies, to death. The accused were also sentenced to life imprisonment in a separate case filed under the Arms Act.
Following the trial court’s decision, the case and its verdict were forwarded to the High Court’s death reference section, where it was registered as a death reference case. Meanwhile, the convicted individuals filed an appeal with the High Court against the verdict in 2014.
- Location :
Dhaka, Bangladesh
