Nur threatens witnesses at courtroom

Seven persons, including a senior judicial magistrate and three policemen, gave testimonies before a Narayanganj court yesterday in two cases filed in connection with the sensational seven-murder.

District and Sessions Judge Syed Enayet Hossain recorded the testimonies till 2:00pm before adjourning proceedings until March 28.

Earlier, the court accepted pleas from defence counsels of Tareque Sayeed and Nur Hossain seeking time for cross-examining the witnesses and complainant.

Meanwhile, the complainant's lawyers alleged that Nur Hossain, the prime accused, tried to threaten some witnesses during proceedings.

Seven people, including Narayanganj city corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarkar, were abducted from the Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road on April 27, 2014. Their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya river a few days later.

The district and sessions judge's court of Narayanganj on February 8 this year framed charges against 35 people, including Nur Hossain and three sacked Rab officials, in the two cases. Of the 35, 12 are still on the run.

The three sacked Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) officials are Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana.

Yesterday, the 23, including Nur Hossain and the three sacked Rab officials, were produced before the court amid tight security. The court proceedings started around 10:15am.

Among the seven persons who gave testimony yesterday was Narayanganj Senior Judicial Magistrate KM Mohiuddin.

It was his court where the sacked Rab officials and Lance Nayek Hira Mia, Purnendu Bala and Nur Hossain's cohorts Mortuja Zaman Churchill and Raham Ali gave confessional statements under Section 164.

He also recorded the statements Nazrul's father-in-law Shahidul Islam, Rabeya Begum and SI Palash Goldar as witnesses.

Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Wazed Ali Khokon said three of the seven who gave testimony yesterday were eyewitnesses.

The witnesses told the court how seven people were abducted and the bodies were dumped in the Shitalakkhya river, said Khokon.

The complainant's lawyer, Shakhawat Hossain, alleged that Nur Hossain was seen having a conversation with the PP and they were laughing at one point.

He also alleged that Nur Hossain tried to threaten the witnesses in order to keep them from giving testimony.

Advocate Shakhawat pleaded to change the PP. The PP denied the allegation, saying he did his duty with "honesty and promptness".

After the proceedings, prosecution witnesses Abul Kalam Azad and Jahangir Alam Tipu told journalists that they were not informed earlier that they had to give testimony. They said they had been told to be present at court.

Nur Hossain's men, including his two brothers Nur Salam and Nur Uddin, were seen on the court premises while proceedings were ongoing.