Justice at last

Dhaka, Jan. 27 (PTI): Five former soldiers sentenced to death in the 1975 killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a military coup have been executed.

Private TV stations ATN Bangla and Desh TV said the executions took place at one minute past midnight (Dhaka time) on Thursday inside the Dhaka Central Jail. They were hanged hours after the Supreme Court rejected their review plea, jail officials said. They added that the executions ended in 40 minutes.

The five convicts were Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shariar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed, A.K.M. Mohiuddin and Bazlul Huda.

Earlier, the condemned men met their relatives for the last time. The son of one of the convicts was brought from Kashimpur Central Jail to see his father.

The relatives said the jail officials had urged them to meet the convicts before their execution.

On Wednesday, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Tafazzul Islam gave its ruling after hearing three days of submissions. Law minister Shafique Ahmed had said that the executions would be carried out by January 31.

The convicts, all ex-army officers, had appealed for a review of their sentences after the Supreme Court in November upheld the execution orders confirmed earlier by the high court.

Jail officials said Dhaka’s district magistrate and deputy commissioner Zillar Rahman, civil surgeon Dr Mushfiqur Rahman and additional district magistrate Avijit Sarkar were in the jail when the convicts were hanged.

Inspector General of Prisons Brig. General Ashraful Islam was also present in the jail with the home secretary, Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, and Dhaka’s police commissioner A.K.M. Shahidul Haque.

Security around the jail was strengthened with elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion troops, armed policemen and plainclothesmen reinforcing the regular police force.

Mujibur, or Mujib as he was popularly called, was killed along with most members of his family in a 1975 revolt by young army officers.

Mohiuddin Ahmed and Bazlul Huda were hanged first while Syed Faruq Rahman was the third to be executed minutes later.

Shahriar Rashid Khan and A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed were the last to walk to the gallows.