A Tribunal in Dhaka yesterday sentenced one person to death and seven others to life in jail for killing Advocate Abdur Razzak under Dewanganj upazila in Jamalpur district on October 11 in 1999.

The convicts are Dewanganj thana Awami League, Chhatra League and Jubo League leaders and activists.

The convict with death is Ahsan Habib Titu, Organising Secretary of the Dewanganj thana Awami League, and Rakhal, Shahan Shah, Manjurul, Mahbub, Selim, Asad and Jewel were jailed for life.

The court also gave one year rigorous imprisonment to four persons- Apu, Tapash, Solaiman and Khaza Alam alias Khazu and acquitted five others- Abul Kalam Azad, Shipon, Chand Miah, Nazmul Hassan and Harun-or- Rashid- as the charges brought against them were not proved.

Of the convicts, Titu was tried in absentia and the rest were present in the court during the pronouncement of the judgement.

Judge AR Masud of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 gave the verdict at a jam-packed courtroom.

The judge took his seat at 12:25pm and read the highlights of the 56-page judgement in 10 minutes.

The punishment of the fugitive will be effective from the date of his arrest or surrender and the convict with death can appeal to the High Court against the judgement within 30 days, the judgement said.

Victim's younger brother and complainant of the case Abdur Rouf expressed his satisfaction at the judgement and expected quick execution of the verdict.

Earlier, the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments and the court recorded statements of 13 prosecution witnesses.

The prosecution story in brief is that Abdur Razzak, former general secretary and president of Dewanganj thana BNP, was beaten to death by a group of assailants at the Shahid Hasem Road Crossing adjacent to Dewanganj Bazar Madrassah Road at about 5:30pm on October 11 in1999 while he was leading a rally.

Victim's brother filed a murder case with Dewanganj Police Station accusing Titu and 14 others the same day.

The investigation officer (IO) pressed charges against Titu and eight others on November 6,2000. But the complainant filed a naraji petition (no-confidence) against the charge sheet and the District and Sessions Judge in Jamalpur ordered further investigation into the matter.

Later, the IO pressed charges against Titu and 16 others on February 23 last year. The court framed charges against them on September 29 the same year. The case was transferred to the Tribunal on November 29 for quick disposal and the trial was completed in 116 working days.

Special Public Prosecutor Harun-or-Rashid Khan appeared for the state while advocates AFM Abdul Wadud and Kazi Nazibullah Hiru defended the accused.