Three sentenced to death for killing garment worker after mugging in Mirpur
Photo: Collected
A court has sentenced three accused to death in a case over the killing of a garment worker named Saimon after mugging him in the capital’s Mirpur. In the same case, a man named Sujan has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for buying the stolen mobile phone.
The court of Judge Zahidul Islam of Dhaka’s Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge-13 delivered the verdict on Tuesday (6 October). The death row convicts are Md Yusuf, Iqbal Kha and Mehedi Hasan. Each of them has also been fined Tk 20,000.
The court’s bench assistant Sohel Mia confirmed the information. He said Yusuf, Iqbal and Mehedi Hasan, who were in jail, were produced before the court ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict. After the verdict, they were sent to jail with conviction warrants. As Sujan is absconding, an arrest warrant along with a conviction warrant has been issued against him.
According to the case details, Saimon worked at Liberty Garments behind Sony Cinema Hall at Mirpur-1 on a salary of Tk 10,000. On 11 October 2022, after drawing his salary from the office, he went shopping in the Mirpur-1 area with two colleagues, Rifat Hossain Rabbi and Hridoy Hasan.
On the way home after shopping at around 9pm, in front of the Aarong shopping centre, one of three unidentified muggers intimidated Saimon by accusing him of beating up his younger brother and saying ‘we need to talk’. Later, Saimon and Rifat were taken by rickshaw via Konabari under Darus Salam Police Station to the front of the kitchen market. Rifat was dropped off there and Saimon was taken inside the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial.
According to the case complaint, the three muggers there showed a knife and told Saimon to hand over the belongings he had with him. When he refused to give them his mobile phone and money, they stabbed him, snatched the money and mobile phone and fled. Later, locals rescued Saimon and took him to Pangu Hospital, where the on-duty doctor declared him dead.
Over the incident, Saimon’s father Shahjahan Sheikh filed a case as plaintiff with Darus Salam Police Station, accusing unidentified persons.
After the investigation, Sub-Inspector (SI) Sohan Ahmed of Darus Salam Police Station submitted a charge sheet to the court on 31 January 2023 against Yusuf, Iqbal and Mehedi Hasan on charges of murder after mugging, and against Sujan on the charge of keeping stolen goods in his possession.
The trial of the case began on 2 August 2023 with the framing of charges against the accused. During the trial, the court recorded the testimonies of 18 people.
