By IANS
Dhaka : A Dhaka court has sentenced to death five people, including a woman, for kidnapping for ransom and eventually killing a jewellery trader in October 2006.
Turya Ghosh Roni was kidnapped and killed by a gang led by 29-year-old Shamsunnahar Sheuli and four others, all of whom were convicted by Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 Judge Anwar Hossain Wednesday, The Daily Star reported.
The other convicts are Shahdat Hossain Liton, 34, his brother Al Mamun, 26, Abu Syed, 30, and Farhad Alam Hira, 26. Sheuli is Liton’s girlfriend, the newspaper said Thursday.
The judge also sentenced the accused to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for destroying evidence.
The court recorded statements of 35 prosecution witnesses during the trial.
According to the prosecution, criminals led by Sheuli kidnapped Turya on Oct 29, 2006 to extract ransom money from his family.
Turya’s father Jagannath Ghosh filed an abduction case with the Uttara Police Station in Dhaka against Sheuli and four others on Nov 7 the same year.
On Dec 11, 2006, police recovered Turya’s mutilated body dumped in a low-lying area at Rampura in the city’s outskirts.
Sheuli and others were arrested from different places in the city. Four of them gave confessional statements to the magistrate.
They told the magistrate that although Turya’s family provided them with the ransom of one million takas ($160,000) and gold ornaments, they killed him fearing arrest.