BANGLADESH: CONTRACTOR SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER BKASH AGENT'S MURDER IN CHATTOGRAM

February 26, 2025:

A Chattogram court on February 24, 2025 handed down the death penalty to a contractor over the murder of a bKash agent in 2020.
The verdict was delivered by Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Begum Sirajam Munira.
Abdur Rahman, the convict, was present during the sentencing and was sent to jail later.
Omar Fuad, bench clerk of the court, said: “The court sentenced Abdur Rahman to death under Section 302, fined him Tk 20,000, and ordered six months in prison if he fails to pay the fine.”
“Additionally, the court sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment, fined him Tk 10,000 and ordered three more months in jail if he fails to pay the fine as the charge of disappearing the body after the murder was proven,” he said.
Another accused in the case, Nasir Uddin, was acquitted as the allegations against him were not proven, Fuad said.
According to the case documents, the victim – 32-year-old Bijoy Kumar Bishwas - was the son of late Santosh Kumar Bishwas of Cumilla’s Chandina.
Bijoy used to live near Navy Hospital Gate in the EPZ area of the city.
He used to run a store, named Chandni Enterprise and Gift Shop, on the ground floor of the Navy Welfare Market.
Police recovered his body wrapped in polystyrene foam and paper from an alley beside Alankar Mor in the Pahartali area on Oct 15, 2020.
A week after the body was found, the Central Investigation Department arrested Rahman, 44, from a house at Sellers Colony in the EPZ.
Rahman was linked with contracting business and his organisation’s office was located in the Navy Welfare Market.
CID officers said Rahman and Bijoy were friends.
Bijoy had loaned Rahman Tk 150,000 on a monthly interest of Tk 7,000. Rahman, however, failed to pay off the debt and the relationship soured.
On Oct 14, 2020, Rahman invited Bijoy to his office, saying he wanted to pay back the money. The two then got into an argument and at one point, Rahman shoved Bijoy, who fell to the floor and lost consciousness.
Rahman then proceeded to strangle Bijoy to death with a cable.
According to the case dossier, Rahman and his employee Nasir Uddin wrapped the body in polystyrene foam and paper and dumped it in the alley.
Sanjay Kumar Bishwas filed a murder case as the plaintiff after the body was found.
Police submitted a chargesheet after an investigation on Apr 10, 2021. The court indicted the two accused on Apr 20, 2022.