A Dhaka court has handed down death penalty to four people in connection with the murder case of author and Dhaka University Professor Humayun Azad.
Dhaka Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Al Mamun pronounced the verdict on Wednesday.
The death-row convicts are--Mizanur Rahman and Anwar Alam, members of the Shura of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Salehin alias Salahuddin and Nur Mohammad.
Of them, Mizanur Rahman and Anwar Alam were present in the courtroom when the verdict was delivered while Salehin alias Salahuddin and Nur Mohammad are still on the run. Another accused, Hafiz Mahmud, was earlier killed in a reported gunfight.
Earlier on March 26, the hearing in the case of the murder that took place 18 years ago ended and the court fixed Wednesday for pronouncing the verdict.
According to the case statement, assailants hacked Humayun Azad on February 26 in 2004 on the way back from Amar Ekushey Book Fair, leaving him severely injured.
The next day, his brother Manjur Kabir filed a case with Ramna Police Station alleging attempted murder.
Later, Humayun Azad died in Germany on August 12 while undergoing treatment. The case then turned into a murder case then.
On 14 January 2007, the investigating officer submitted a charge sheet against five accused.
