Prof Taher Murder: Two Accused To Be Executed Any Time

Two death row inmates—Dr. Mia Mohammad Mohiuddin and Md. Jahangir Alam—in the killing of Rajshahi University Professor S Taher Ahmed may be executed at any time, the Appellate Division panel said on Tuesday.

The Appellate Division panel, presided over by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, rejected the condemned inmates' request for permission to appeal earlier this morning.

Now there are no legal barriers to the execution of the two death row convicts in this case.

A letter that was submitted on June 5 and was received by the administration of Rajshahi Central Jail was rejected by the President.

According to the regulations, the executed prisoners must be executed within 28 days of the jail officials receiving this postal notification. And they will be hanged in line with the law starting today, July 25, and continuing through July 31.

The Appellate Division rejected three motions for reconsideration on March 2 of this year, including those of the two death row inmates accused of murdering professor Taher.

On April 5, 2022, a Rajshahi court sentenced two defendants in the case to death and two others to life in prison.  The lifers are Nazmul Alam and Abdus Salam, relatives of caretaker Jahangir Alam.

After going missing on February 1, 2006, Prof. Taher's corpse was discovered two days later in a sewer not far from his home.

On February 3, a murder case was filed with Motihar Police Station in Rajshahi, following a complaint lodged by his son Sanzid.

A Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal on May 22, 2008, sentenced four people to death in the case and acquitted two others, including former RU Chhatra Shibir president Mahbubul Alam Salehi.

Later on May 13, 2013, the High Court upheld the death penalty of Mohiuddin and Jahangir, but sentenced Salam and Nazmul to imprisonment until death.

After the order, Mohiuddin, Jahangir and Salam moved the apex court.