Dhaka, Nov 19: Amidst unprecedented security measures, Bangladesh Supreme Court on Thursday upholds death penalties for the ex-Army officers convicted for killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Bangladesh eagerly awaited the final verdict in the protracted murder trial of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 34 years after he was killed in a military coup.
Security agencies have enforced a tight security vigil in the capital and vital installations elsewhere, fearing sabotage as five of the 12 condemned ex-army officers were still hiding abroad to evade justice.
The five Appellate Division judges who are to deliver the judgement in the trial reached the Supreme Court complex this morning amidst unprecedented security measures in the run up to the verdict.
“The five judges have arrived” under heavy security escort, a Supreme Court official told PTI.
Witnesses said armed police and elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) troops escorted the five judges separately to the Supreme Court complex, where over 1,000 extra police and RAB men laid a security blanket.
They said the people were allowed inside the complex after conformation of identities and body and vehicle searches, while sniffing dogs were also engaged.
Officials said extra security vigil was also enforced at other important installations including the nearby secretariat complex Dhaka Central Jail where five of the convicts were kept in isolated cells to avert any possible subversive acts ahead of the delivery of the verdict.
–PTI