Trial proceedings begin in arms case against Barkat, Rubel

Charges in arms cases have been drawn up against the expelled general secretary of Faridpur Awami League, Sajjad Hossain Barkat, and his brother, expelled president of Faridpur Press Club, Imtiaz Hasan Rubel. On Sunday, the trial proceedings in two arms cases began.

Court sources said that three accused, including the two brothers, were brought to the court premises under strict security. They were sent back to jail after the charges were formed in the afternoon.

Public prosecutor of the district and sessions judge court, Dulal Sarker, said that at around 11:00am they were brought to the court of Faridpur district and sessions judge Md Selim Miah for charges to be drawn up in two separate cases filed under the arms act. Sajjad Hossain Barkat and Imtiaz Hossain Rubel are accused in one of the arms cases, and Imtiaz Hossain Rubel and his associate Rezaul Karim Bipul in the other.

The public prosecutor Dulal Sarker went on to say in accordance to the rules, the accusations were read out and the accused were asked if they were guilty or not guilty. They claimed to be not guilty and appealed to the court for justice. The court fixed the next hearing in the Barkat-Rubel case for 27 October and the hearing in the Rubel-Rezaul case for 2 November.

The defendants' lawyer Habibur Rahman said that the court had drawn up charges in two arms cases against Barkat, his brother Rubel and associate Rezaul. The court dismissed the defendants' appeal to drop the charges against the three accused in the two cases.

Two attacks were launched on the night of 16 May on the house of district Awami League president Subal Chandra Saha at Goalchamat in the town. Subal Saha filed a case in this regard on 18 May against unidentified persons with the Faridpur Kotwali police station. Then 20 days after that on 7 June, in a special drive, police arrested 9 persons in that case, including Barkat, Rubel and Rezaul from Badarpur in the town.

The police said that arms, ammunition, foreign currency, cash, narcotics and a large amount of rice was seized during the arrest of Barkat, Rubel and Rezaul. On the next day, 8 June, sub-inspectors (SI) of the Kotwali police station Sakhawat Hossain and SI Abdul Jabbar filed two separate arms cases against them. Upon completion of investigations, charge sheets were submitted on 27 June and 30 June to the court.

There are a total of 11 cases against Barkat and Rubel including the arms cases, money laundering case and more.