Ramna Batamul bombing: Verdict in murder case on May 13

The High Court has set May 13 to announce the verdict in the death reference (approval of death sentences) in the murder case related to the Ramna Batamul bombing during the Bengali New Year celebrations in 2001. The date was fixed by the High Court bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akhter on Thursday.

The court had set May 8 for the verdict in the appeals and death references of the convicts earlier, on April 30. The hearings were completed on February 18 this year.

According to case details, the bombing took place during the Bengali New Year celebrations on April 14, 2001, at Ramna Batamul in Dhaka. The court gave its verdict 13 years later, on June 23, 2014. In that verdict, the court sentenced eight members of the banned militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad Bangladesh (HuJI-B) to death, including its top leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, and sentenced six others to life imprisonment.

The convicted death row inmates who filed criminal appeals in the High Court include: Maulana Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam, Mufti Shafiqul Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Maulana Abu Bakar, and Arif Hasan alias Suman. Additionally, Mufti Abdul Hannan, Maulana Akbar Hossain alias Helal Uddin, and Arif Hasan alias Suman also filed jail appeals.

The bombing killed 10 people and injured many others. Nine people died on the spot. The victims were: Al-Mamun Hossain, Riazul Islam, Jannatul Ferdous Shipli, Abul Kalam Azad, Mohammad Jasim Uddin, Mohammad Imran Hossain, Asim Chandra Sarkar, Ismail Hossain Swapan, and Ansar Ali. One victim remained unidentified. Following the incident, police filed a case at Ramna Police Station.

Mufti Abdul Hannan gave a confessional statement under Section 164, which helped reveal the details of the attack on November 19, 2006. During the military-backed caretaker government, the investigation gained momentum. CID submitted two charge sheets against 14 people—one under the murder charge, and the other under the Explosives Act on November 29, 2008.

The eight who received the death penalty in the murder case are: Mufti Hannan, Maulana Akbar Hossain alias Helal Uddin, Arif Hasan alias Suman alias Abdur Razzak, Mufti Shafiqul Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Maulana Abu Bakar alias Hafez Selim Hawladar, Maulana Tajuddin (brother of former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu), and Hafez Jahangir Alam alias Ustad Jahangir Badr. Four of them are in custody; the remaining four are fugitives.

The six others sentenced to life in prison are currently in jail. They are: Hafez Abu Taher, Maulana Sabbir alias Abdul Hannan, Hafez Yahia, Maulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Maulana Abdur Rouf, and Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel.

The separate case filed under the Explosives Act is still under trial in the lower court. So far, 54 out of 84 witnesses have testified. The next hearing, scheduled for May 17, will focus on the accused defending themselves.

Mufti Hannan, the main accused in the Ramna bombing, has already been executed in another case involving a grenade attack on former British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury.