The High Court yesterday acquitted former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and five others, who were sentenced to death by the trial court, in a case filed over the sensational 10-truck arms haul in Chattogram.

Two separate cases were lodged with Karnaphuli Police Station a day after the arms were seized at Chattogram Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) jetty in the early hours of April 2, 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat government's tenure.

The arms and ammunition included 4,930 sophisticated firearms, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 27,020 grenades, 2,000 grenade-launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11.41 million bullets.

One case was filed under the Special Powers Act 1974 for smuggling of firearms and the other was lodged under the Arms Act for illegal possession of firearms.

Yesterday, the HC acquitted the six people, including Babar, of the arms smuggling case, observing that there is nothing in the police report as to who had smuggled the arms from whom and where.

The five others who got acquittal are former director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury; ex-CUFL managing director Mohsin Talukder; former CUFL general manager (admin) Enamul Hoque; former additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin; and Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami.

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HC restarts hearing on appeals

Nizami was executed in May, 2016 for crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971.

The other acquitted people, however, were not freed from jail since they had been sentenced to life imprisonment in the illegal arms possession case and their appeals are pending with the HC, Babar's lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir told The Daily Star.

All the 14 accused in the arms smuggling case had been sentenced to life imprisonment in the arms possession case by the lower court, the lawyer noted.

The HC commuted the death sentence of Paresh Barua, military commander of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), a separatist group fighting for an independent Assam, to life imprisonment because evidence "is available against him". The HC also said the judgement on Paresh was based on a Supreme Court decision, evidence on record, and circumstances

The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter also commuted death sentences of six other convicts to 10 years' imprisonment in the case.

The six are former NSI director wing commander (retd) Shahab Uddin; former NSI deputy director Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain; ex-NSI field officer Akbar Hossain Khan; local smuggler Hafizur Rahman; labour supplier Deen Mohammad; and trawler owner Haji Sobhan.

The HC also commuted the Tk 5 lakh fines slapped on each of the six by the trial court to Tk 10,000 each.

In this case, former director general of the NSI Brig Gen (retd) Md Abdur Rahim was sentenced to death and fined by the trial court. Yesterday, the HC in its judgment declared his appeal abated (ended) as he had died earlier. However, the HC imposed a fine of Tk 10,000 on him. The successors of Rahim will have to pay the fines, Shishir Manir said.

The HC bench delivered the verdict after holding hearings on the death references and appeals in the case for 13 working days.

Lawyers SM Shahjahan, Shishir Manir, Mohammad Ahsan, Sadhan Kumar Banik and Md Mohiuddin argued for the appellants while Deputy Attorney General Sultana Akter Rubi and assistant attorneys general Mahfuja Awal and Shamima Akhter Banu represented the state during hearings.

HC OBSERVATIONS

Delivering the verdict, the HC observed that the purpose of the trial was "to convict the guilty and at the same time to protect the innocent".

In this case, the HC found multiple lacunae concerning the investigation, a lack of due diligence and coaction of evidence.

The police very mechanically submitted the charge sheet against people who may just be connected to uploading the arms, the HC said.

"It has not been mentioned in the police report about the country of origin of the arms and it has not been mentioned that to whom it was going to be delivered. It has not been mentioned by which vessel it was brought into Bangladesh."