BANGLADESH: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF SENIOR LAWYER IN SYLHET

May 8, 2025:

A Sylhet court on May 6, 2025 sentenced three individuals, including the son of the victim, to death for the brutal 2011 murder of veteran lawyer Shamsul Islam Chowdhury. Another accused in the case received a three-year prison sentence.
Those sentenced to death are the victim's son Masud Ahmed Chowdhury Munna, and his accomplices Zaher Ali and Ansar Ahmed. Meanwhile, the driver involved in the incident, Borhan Uddin, was handed a three-year jail term. All of the convicted individuals are absconding now.
The verdict was delivered on May 6 morning by Judge Md Shahadat Hossain Pramanik of the Divisional Special Judge’s Court in Sylhet. Public Prosecutor Advocate Md Ansaruzzaman confirmed the court’s decision.
According to case details, the murder occurred on the night of July 17, 2011, during the religious observance of Shab-e-Barat.
While senior lawyer Shamsul Islam Chowdhury was in prayer, his son Munna struck him on the head with a stone from behind, causing him to lose consciousness. He was then injected with a sedative and taken by car to the Surma River in the Mallikpur area of Chhatak upazila in Sunamganj, where he was dumped.
Several days later, his body was recovered from the Surma River near Brahmangaon village in Sunamganj. Munna carried out the murder with the help of three others, including the driver.
Shamsul Islam Chowdhury was survived by four daughters and two sons. His elder son, Mahmud Ahmed Chowdhury, filed the case.
Out of 30 witnesses listed in the case, 19 testified during the case trial.
The court’s PP Advocate Badrul Ahmed Chowdhury said, "The judge said in his observation that fathers and sons generally have a sweet relationship. At an old age, a father seeks help from his son but lawyer Shamsul Islam Chowdhury was killed over a land dispute. Those guilty of this heinous crime will be punished."