Two police officers in Bangladesh have been sentenced to death for the murder of a former military major, bringing attention to extrajudicial executions by the country’s security services.
Pradeep Kumar Das Liakat Ali was convicted of murdering Sinha Mohammad Rashed on July 31, 2020, near the southern tourist town of Cox’s Bazar, by a district court judge.
Das and three other officers have been charged with murdering the retired army major while he was filming a nature documentary.
Prosecutor Tauhidul Ahsan told the AFP news agency, “The judge said it was a deliberate murder.” “As he lay dying, one of them shot him and the other kicked him with his boots.”
The reason for the crime was not discussed during Monday’s hearing.
The murder’s details were leaked to the public, causing indignation among the country’s military brass, who urged that the officers be punished.
During the sentencing, hundreds of people gathered outside the court to condemn Das and his co-conspirators.
For the killing, six more persons were sentenced to life in prison, while seven others were acquitted.
Bangladesh’s human rights performance under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has previously been criticised internationally.
Over allegations of extrajudicial killings, Washington placed sanctions on the country’s elite Rapid Action Battalion security unit, as well as some former and current top officers, last month.
According to Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladeshi human rights researcher, the case against Das and the other defendants was only pursued because the victim was a member of the country’s powerful military.
“Pradeep could have gotten away with murdering ordinary folks in the name of executing drug peddlers and probably would’ve gotten a presidential or prime ministerial medal,” Hasan, who is living in Australia, told the news agency.
