A Bagerhat court yesterday sentenced five people to death and three others to life imprisonment in Awami League leader advocate Kalidas Boral murder case.
Those who have been awarded death penalty are Md Alamgir Siddiky and his brother Nasir Siddiky of Rahmatpur village, Saidul Islam alias Sayeed Fakir of Borobaria village, Saifur Rahman alias Babul Gazi of Ghola village, and Swapan of Kalatala village under Chitalmari upazila of the district.
Of the five, Alamgir Siddiky is now in jail while the rest four are absconding.
The lifers are Swakat Siddiky of Rahmatpur village in Chitalmari upazila, Babul Mollah of Chargaon village, and Manik of Sultanpur village in Sadar upazila. The court fined them Tk 20,000 each, in default they are to suffer another two years in jail.
District and Sessions judge SM Solaiman pronounced the verdict in the case at noon. He also acquitted nine other accused as prosecution could not prove murder charges against them.
Chitalmari upazila Awami League leader and former chairman of the upazila parishad advocate Kalidas Boral was shot dead by a gang at Sadhana intersection in the district town on August 20, 2000.
Boral was also the president Bagerhat district puja udjapan parishad and a central leader of Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad.
Happy Boral, wife of the slain leader, filed a case with Bagerhat Model Police Station on the following day, accusing five identified and some unidentified people.
After investigation, the then officer-in-charge (OC) Shahidul Islam of the police station pressed charges against 22 people on October 31 of the same year. Five of the accused died during the trial of the case. The court recorded the statements of 42 witnesses.
Happy Boral expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict. She told journalists on the court premises that she would go to the higher court.
