Man gets death penalty for killing trader Aziz Chaklader 22 years ago

A court has sentenced a man to death and jailed another person for life for murdering Abdul Aziz Chaklader, a glass trader of Old Dhaka’s Lalbagh, reports bdnews24.com.

Chaklader was killed 22 years ago. Police recovered the skull and bones of Aziz from the Rupsa river in Khulna while the investigation was ongoing.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Special Judge’s Court No. 9 announced the verdict on Monday.

Among the accused, Joynal Sarkar was sentenced to death, while Rustam Ali received a life-term imprisonment.

Two other suspects, Jamai Faruk and Idris, were acquitted. They have been behind bars for the past 22 years.

Aziz Chaklader alias Dhakaiya Aziz went missing on his way to Khulna from Dhaka in 1998. Initially, an abduction case was filed with Lalbagh Police Station against Maksud and Amanullah, two traders with business ties to Aziz. According to the case documents, Aziz owed Tk 25,000 to them.

Aziz was murdered following the directive of Ershad Sikder, a serial killer who was executed in Khulna in 2004, SI Md Abdur Rakib Khan mentioned in the charge sheet submitted to the court.

Being deferred for years, the case reached its final stage of verdict on Jan 14, following the hearing of both parties.

Although the verdict was slated for Feb 19 and then for Apr 01, it was postponed again due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2002, police named seven people in the case but later two of them, Maksud and Amanullah, were acquitted.

The accused in the case were Ershad Sikder, Laskar Mohammad Liakat, Md Nure Alam, Idris Jamai, Joynal, Jamai Faruk and Md Rustam Ali.

Ershad Sikdar was hanged in 2004 over a separate case, while Laskar Md Liakat died during the trial.

The prosecution made Nure Alam the main witness in the case and he was exempted from the trial proceedings.

The charges were framed in 2000 for the case, but trial proceedings were halted for long following a High Court order. The court began to record the testimonies in 2017 when the stay order was lifted.

The court heard six among 19 witnesses. On Jan 14, the court scheduled the verdict after hearing the arguments from both sides.