The International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) on Thursday sentenced six people, including former Member of Parliament Muhammad Saiful Islam, to death and handed down various terms of imprisonment to eight others in a crimes against humanity case over the killing and burning of bodies of seven people in Ashulia during the July–August movement of 2024.

The verdict was delivered on Thursday (February 5) afternoon by a three-member tribunal bench led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury. The other members of the bench were Justice Md. Manjurul Bashid and Justice Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir.

At around 12:25 pm, eight arrested convicts were produced before the tribunal dock. In their presence, Justice Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir read out the short verdict. The arrested convicts are former Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime and Ops) of Dhaka district Md. Abdullahil Kafi, former Additional Superintendent of Police (Savar Circle) Md. Shahidul Islam, former Detective Branch inspector Arafat Hossain, SI Malek, SI Arafat Uddin, ASI Kamrul Hasan, SI Sheikh Abzalul Haque, and constable Mukul.

The eight fugitive convicts include former MP of Dhaka-19 constituency Muhammad Saiful Islam, former DIG of Dhaka Range Syed Nurul Islam, former Superintendent of Police Md. Asaduzzaman Ripon, former Officer-in-Charge of Ashulia Police Station AFM Sayed Roni, former Inspector (Investigation) Mohammad Masudur Rahman, former Inspector (Operations) Nirmal Kumar Das, former ASI Bishwajit Saha, and local Awami League leader Roni Bhuiyan.

Earlier on February 1, the tribunal had fixed February 5 for delivering the verdict.

Seven people were martyred in the incident. The victims were Sazzad Hossain Sojal, As Sabur, Tanzil Mahmud Sujay, Bayezid Bostami, Abul Hossain, Omar Faruk, and Mohammad Shahabul Islam.

The tribunal framed charges against the accused and ordered the commencement of trial on August 21 last year. At that time, seven of the eight accused present pleaded not guilty. However, SI Sheikh Abzalul Haque confessed to the charges and gave a statement as a state witness.

Earlier, on July 2 of the same year, the tribunal took cognizance of the prosecution’s formal charges. The prosecution submitted 313 pages of supporting documents, 168 pages of documentary evidence, and two pen drives as material evidence.