In Bangladesh, the High Court has acquitted former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and five others, who were sentenced to death, in the 10-truck arms haul case in Chattogram.
The court also commuted the death sentence of six convicts to 10 years’ imprisonment in the case. Indian separatist outfit United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) chief Paresh Barua, another death-row convict, had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment, reports United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
The 10-truck arms haul case is believed to be the largest arms smuggling incident in the history of Bangladesh. Investigators believed that delivery was intended for the ULFA.
The case dates back to April 1, 2004, when 10 truckloads of arms were seized at the Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL) jetty. Two cases – one under the Arms Act and another under the Special Powers Act – were filed with Karnaphuli Police Station the following day, naming 50 people as accused in the arms case and 52 in the other.
On January 30, 2014, Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge SM Mujibur Rahman sentenced 14 people to death under the Special Powers Act. They were also handed life imprisonment and seven years’ imprisonment each under two sections of the arms case, reports UNB.
The 14 sentenced to death included former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, ULFA chief Paresh Barua, former DGFI director Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, and former NSI director general Abdur Rahim. The charges were related to smuggling under the Special Powers Act.
Of these convicts, Motiur Rahman Nizami was executed in 2016 for crimes against humanity.