HC rejects bail for Maruf Reza in Sagira Morshed murder case

The High Court (HC) today rejected the bail plea of an accused named Maruf Reza in the sensational Sagira Morshed murder case filed over 30 years ago.

A virtual HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim refused the bail plea after hearing from lawyers of both the petitioner and the state.

Advocate Abdul Matin Khasru joined the hearing on behalf of Maruf Reza, while deputy Attorney General Dr Md Bashir Ullah represented the state.

The accused Maruf Reza filed a petition at the High Court seeking bail in the murder case on Monday (July 13).

Earlier on Januay 14, this year, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) pressed charges against four people in connection with the murder case.

On the same day, Deputy Inspector General and PBI Chief Banaj Kumar Majumdar said, "It has been proven without doubt that the four accused were involved in the killing. But we could not manage to seize major pieces of evidence in the case, including the motorcycle and the gun."

"For this reason, we have submitted a video presentation with a sketch description of the incident. This type of presentation was also accepted by the court in the Nusrat murder case in Feni," he added.

The four accused are: Sagira's brother-in-law Hasan Ali Chowdhury, Ali's wife Sayedatul Mahmuda alias Shahin, brother-in-law (Shahin's brother) Anas Mahmud alias Rezwan and their hired killer Maruf Reza.

On March 9, a Dhaka court took into cognizance the charge sheet and fixed March 15 for the hearing of the complaint. However, the defendant filed an application seeking time for the hearing. Metropolitan Sessions Judge of Dhaka KM Imrul Kayes fixed April 16 for the hearing.

The hearing did not take place on the day due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sagira Morshed Salam, a researcher at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, was shot dead in broad daylight on July 25, 1989 in the capital's Siddheswari area.

During the investigation, all the four accused gave confessional statements narrating the incident.

In the 309-page charge sheet, 56 people have been made witnesses for the state.
According to the case documents, on July 25, 1989, the victim Sagira, 34, was going to Viqarunnisa Noon School in the capital's Bailey Road by rickshaw to pick up her daughter Saharat.

Sagira, however, was shot dead when she reached Siddheswari.

Abdus Salam Chowdhury, husband of the victim, filed a murder case against some unknown people at the Ramna police station the same day. But the trial of the case had been stayed following a High Court order.

The PBI started investigating the case on a High Court order on June 17, 2019. On November 20, the High Court gave the PBI 60 more days to investigate the murder.