by Staff CorrespondentDhaka – Former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and five others, previously sentenced to death for their involvement in the 2004 10-truck arms haul case, have been acquitted by Bangladesh’s High Court.
The ruling came on Wednesday after the court heard appeals challenging their convictions in the high-profile case concerning the attempted smuggling of 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition in the port city of Chattogram in 2004.
The verdict was delivered by a two-judge High Court bench led by Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam.
The five others acquitted include: Former DGFI Director Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, Former CUFL Managing Director Mohsin Talukder, Ex-CUFL General Manager (Admin) Enamul Hoque, Former Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industries Nurul Amin, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Motiur Rahman Nizami.
Nizami, who served as a minister in Khaleda Zia’s cabinet from 2001 to 2006, was executed in May 2016 for crimes against humanity committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War.
Additionally, the court commuted the death sentence of Paresh Barua, military commander of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), to life imprisonment.
Lutfozzaman Babar, who served as state minister for home affairs during Khaleda Zia’s 2001-2006 tenure, had sought acquittal, labeling his conviction as politically motivated.
His lawyer, Shishir Manir, argued that Babar was falsely implicated in the case and that the prosecution failed to present credible evidence or reliable witnesses to substantiate the charges.
The High Court began hearing appeals and death references in the case on November 6, 2023.
On January 30, 2014, Chattogram Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 sentenced 14 individuals, including Babar and Nizami, to death for their involvement in the attempted smuggling of 10 truckloads of firearms.
The arms haul was one of the largest illegal weapons seizures in Bangladesh’s history, raising concerns about national security.
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