Abrar murder case: HC accepts appeals by 17 death-row convicts

The High Court on Wednesday accepted the jail appeals of 17 death-row convicts in the Buet student Abrar Fahad killing case.

The bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Rajik Al Jalil accepted the jail appeals for hearing.

Earlier, the 17 death row convicts appealed against the verdict of a lower court through the jail authorities, which came up in the High Court's cause-list on Wednesday.

The court said the jail appeals will be heard along with the death references.

Deputy Attorney General KM Masud Rumi was present at the time.

On January 6, the death references of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) student Abrar Fahad’s murder case reached the High Court for examining the lower court verdict.

On December 8 last year, a Dhaka court sentenced 20 young men to death and five others to life imprisonment for killing Abrar in October 2019.

According to the prosecution Abrar, the second-year student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Buet, was beaten to death by Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders at Sher-e-Bangla Hall in 2019.

He was found dead on the staircase of the hall in the early hours of October 7, after he was taken to room No 2011 around 8pm on October 6 and beaten mercilessly.

On October 7, an FIR for murder was lodged at the Chawkbazar police station against 19 people, following a complaint from Abrar’s father Barkat Ullah.

On November 13, 2019, Detective Branch (DB) inspector and investigation officer of the case Wahiduzzaman submitted a charge-sheet against the 25 accused.

On September 15, 2020, the court framed charges against the accused. The court recorded statements of 47 of the 60 witnesses in the case.