Court to record witness testimony on 12 Oct

A Dhaka court on Monday set 12 October for recording witness testimony in the decade-old murder case of blogger Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy, popularly known as Niloy Neel.

The Dhaka First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Alamgir Hossain's Court set the new date, State Prosecutor Bellal Hossain confirmed.

He said Monday was set for recording witness testimony, but the witnesses did not appear despite warrants being issued. The accused who were in jail were also produced before the court and were later sent back to jail.

According to documents, the case has 15 listed witnesses, five of whom have testified, including Niloy’s wife, Asha Moni, who is also the complainant. Court records show that Asha was the first to testify in August 2022.

Niloy was killed on 7 August 2015, in his rented flat in Dhaka’s Goran area. He had returned from the market at around 12:15pm. He was using his laptop in the bedroom after taking a shower when four unidentified men, pretending to inquire about a rental, entered the apartment.

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His wife filed a murder case at Khilgaon Police Station the same day, naming four unidentified assailants.

After five years of investigation, on 4 October 2020, the Detective Branch submitted a charge sheet against 13 individuals, and charges were framed on 18 January 2022.

The accused are: expelled army major Syed Md Ziaul Haque, Abu Siddiq Sohel alias Sakib/Shahab, Kawsar Hossain Khan, Masum Rana, Sad Al Nahin, Md Kamal Hossain Sardar, Maulana Mufti Abdul Gaffar, Md Mortuza Faisal Sabbir, Md Tarequl Alam alias Tareq, Khairul Islam alias Jamil/Rifat/Fahim/Jisan, Mozammel Hossain Saimon, Md Arafat Rahman, and Md Sheikh Abdullah alias Jubayer.