10-truck arms case: HC acquits Babar, commutes Paresh’s sentence

The High Court on Wednesday acquitted former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and five others who had been sentenced to death in the 10-truck arms haul case in Chattogram.

The five others acquitted are: former director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury; former managing director of Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL), Mohsin Talukder; former CUFL general manager (admin), Enamul Hoque; former additional secretary of the industries ministry, Nurul Amin; and Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami.

In addition, the High Court commuted the death sentence of Ulfa military commander Paresh Barua to life imprisonment.

The verdict was delivered on Wednesday (December 18) by the High Court bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter, after hearing the death references and appeals filed by the accused.

In the case, law enforcement and coast guard personnel had seized ten truckloads of arms, ammunition, and explosives on the night of April 1, 2004, as they were being offloaded at the CUFL jetty area on the southeast bank of the Karnaphuli River under the jurisdiction of Karnaphuli Police Station.

On January 30, 2014, Chattogram Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 Judge SM Mozibur Rahman sentenced 14 individuals, including Nizami and Babar, to death for their involvement in smuggling the arms.