Nur Hossain sent to jail

--Narayanganj court sends Nur Hossain to jail

--Shifted to Dhaka Central Jail from Narayanganj jail

--Shown arrested in at least 11 cases

-- Capital punishment demanded by people

--Security measures in and around the court premises tightened

--Produced before the court from Narayanganj Police Lines in afternoon

-- Brought back from India last night

A Narayanganj court today sent Nur Hossain, who was brought back from India last night, to jail in connection with the sensational seven-murder case that took place in April last year.

Nur, the prime accused in the case, has been shifted to Dhaka Central Jail from Narayanganj jail this afternoon, Jahangir Kabir, senior jail superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail, told The Daily Star.

Narayanganj Chief Judicial Magistrate Shahidul Islam sent Nur to the jail after police produced him before the court around 3:00pm.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Shahidul Islam passed the order after police produced the prime accused in the case before his court this afternoon.

Crowd shows sandals condemning Nur Hossain, who was brought back from India last night, when he is placed before a Narayanganj court today in connection with the sensational seven-murder case that took place in April last year. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Nur Hossain was shown arrested in 11 cases, including the seven-murder case, filed with Shiddhirganj and Fatullah police stations.

READ MORE: Murdered brutally, dumped into river

As soon as Nur reached the court premises, people from all walks of life started chanting slogans demanding capital punishment.

Security measures in and around the court premises has been tightened to avert any untoward incidents in the court. Members of different law enforcement agencies, lawyers, victims’ family members and the court’s staffs and officials were allowed to stay inside the court premises.

Nur Hossain was brought to the court from Narayanganj Police Lines where he was kept after he was brought back from India last night.

RAB OFFICIAL’S COMMENT OVER NUR’S REPATRIATION

Rab Additional Director General (operations) Col Ziaul Ahsan today in a Facebook status however termed the repatriation of Nur Hossain as a “great achievement” by the elite force.

He writes: “It was the great achievement by the RAB forces to get Noor (Nur) Hossain back from Indian authority. Though this force was involve with this murder but this elite organization could find out the fact within 12hrs after the incident. Most of the accused was arrested by RAB and handed over to Enquiry officer of Narayanganj police.”

THE SEVEN-MURDER CASE

The case was filed over the killing of seven people -- Narayanganj City Corporation ward Councillor Nazrul Islam, his driver and three associates, and senior lawyer Chandan Sarkar and his driver.

The seven were abducted allegedly by some Rapid Action Battalion men from Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road on April 27 last year.

Nur, who too was a ward councillor of Narayanganj city back then, allegedly bribed the Rab men for murdering Nazrul with whom he reportedly had a longstanding political feud. Lawyer Chandan and his driver were killed as they happened to witness the Rab men abducting Nazrul and his associates.

The murder outraged the nation with Nazrul's father-in-law Shahidul Islam alleging that the Rab men had taken Tk 6 crore from Nur to kill Nazrul.

ALSO READ: Finger pointed at Rab men

Three Rab officials -- Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana -- were sacked for allegedly executing the killings in exchange for money.

Nur, who is the prime accused in the case, is wanted in almost a dozen cases.

Immediately after the seven murders, Nur fled to India. However, he was arrested in Kolkata in June and charged with trespass and possession of an illegal firearm.

A West Bengal court on October 16 ordered that Nur Hossain be deported to face trial in Bangladesh.

Seven people were killed allegedly by Rapid Action Battalion and the bodies were found floating in the river Shitalakkhya at Narayanganj in April last year. In the photo, one of the seven bodies is being pulled towards the shore. Star file photo

Sandipan Chakraborty, additional chief judicial magistrate of Barasat in North Chobbish Parganas, asked the authorities concerned to comply with its order by December 16.

Meanwhile, nearly a year after the seven-murder incident, police on April 8 this year submitted the charge sheet in the case, naming 35 people, including Nur Hossain and the three sacked Rab officials.

Of them, 22, including 17 Rab members, are in jail while 13 are on the run, sources said.

Once a truck helper, Nur Hossain amassed huge wealth at home and abroad with the blessings of major political parties since late '80s, according to media reports.

Nur, who was a vice president of Siddhirganj Thana Awami League when the murders took place, reportedly owns businesses and assets in India and Malaysia.

Even though he was accused in 21 cases in Siddhirganj and Fatullah, he managed to stay out of jail and maintain his influence in the city until the seven-murder incident.