8 Sentenced to Death, 7 Jailed for Life Over Schoolboy’s Murder in Sylhet Land Dispute

A court in Sylhet on Wednesday sentenced eight individuals to death and handed life imprisonment to seven others for the 2021 murder of a schoolboy in Biswanath upazila.

Judge Syeda Amina Farhin of Sylhet Additional Sessions Judge Court-1 delivered the verdict. Additionally, the court sentenced 17 more accused to two years of imprisonment each.

The eight sentenced to death include UK-based Bangladeshi expatriate Saiful Alam, along with Nazrul, Sadrul, Siraj, Jamal, Shahin, Abdul Jalil, and Anwar. Those given life terms are Elias, Abdun Nur, Joynal, Ashique, Askir, Farid, and Akbar.

According to the prosecution, a land-related conflict between Saiful Alam of Chaitannagar village and Najir Uddin escalated on May 1, 2021. Saiful attempted to use soil from Najir’s land to fill a nearby road, leading to a heated argument.

When Najir, his cousin Manik, and his 18-year-old nephew Sumel Mia, a class 10 student, tried to stop him, Saiful opened fire, killing Sumel on the spot and injuring four others.

Following the incident, Ibrahim Ali Sijil, Sumel's cousin, filed a case against 27 individuals at Biswanath Police Station. The investigation, led by then Officer-in-Charge Rama Prosad Chakraborty, resulted in a chargesheet naming 32 accused.

On July 13, police presented 30 of the accused in court. Another accused, Mamunur Rashid, is being tried in absentia.