SC upholds top fugitive militant Salehin’s death penalty

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death penalty of Salauddin Salehin, a dreaded militant from the banned JMB, who was convicted in the 2004 killing of Goni Gomez of Jamalpur.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after hearing a petition.

Salehin has been a fugitive since 2015 since he was abducted him from a prison van carrying him to Mymensingh jail after a gun attack in Trishal upazila.

The court did not consider the appeal of Rakib, another death-row convict in the case, as he already died.

Deputy attorney general Biswajit Debnath represented the state.

In 2006, Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced Salehin and Rakib to death in the case and later the High Court (HC) upheld sentence rejecting their appeal.

Rejected by the HC the two appealed the death sentence before the Supreme Court.

Additional attorney general Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury said Goni Gomez, owner of a pharmacy, who had converted to Christian from Muslim, was killed by the JMB men.

Rakib, another accused in the case, was killed in a gunfight with police in 2015.