Man sentenced to life over attempted murder of author Zafar Iqbal

A court has sentenced a man to life in prison, another to four years in jail and acquitted four others in a case over a murder attempt on writer Muhammed Zafar Iqbal.

The verdict was delivered by the Sylhet Anti-Terrorism Tribunal Judge Nurul Amin Biplob on Tuesday in the presence of all the suspects, according to Public Prosecutor Mominur Rahman Titu, reports bdnews24.com.

Faizul Hasan, the madrasa student who carried out the attack, was sentenced to life in prison. His friend Sohag Miah was jailed for four years.

Faizul was also fined Tk 30,000 and will get an additional jail term of six months if he fails to pay, while Sohag was fined Tk 5,000 and will face an additional three months in prison if he fails to pay, Public Prosecutor Mominur said.

Faizul's father Maulana Atiqur Rahman, mother Minara Begum, brother Enamul Hasan, and maternal uncle Md Fazlur Rahman were all acquitted in the case.

Before the verdict, the suspects were brought to court from the Sylhet Central Prison amid strict police security.

Prof Iqbal was attacked and injured during an open-air programme on the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology campus on Mar 3, 2018.

A case was filed with the Jalalabad Police Station over the incident that same day.

Police pressed charges against the six suspects in the case in July 2018.

The prosecution and defence completed their arguments in the trial on Mar 22 of this year.