The monk, Gyanojyoti Mohathero, was brutally slain in his monastery at Hingala Warapuyan Buddha Bihar, a temple cum orphanage, in Raozan of the district triggering outrage at home and abroad.

Summing up a 72-page verdict in the case Judge M Belayet Hossain delivered the judgement at around 12:35pm before a packed courtroom in presence of three of the convicts, and lawyers and relatives of both the accusees and the victim.

The persons ordained to walk the gallows are Azizul Haq, Putul Barua, Aliach Mohammad, Nurul Islam, Manik and Zahir.

Of them, Putul Barua, a teacher of the Buddhist temple and one of the two masterminds behind the murder, went into hiding after obtaining bail. Two others, Manik and Zahir, are also absconding.

The other mastermind Azizul Haq, a top-notch terrorist of the district and chief of Raozan-based terrorist outfit Aziz Bahini, is behind the bars along with his accomplices Aliach Mohammad, a confessed murderer, and Nurul Islam.

An army contingent caught Haq with two AK-47 assault rifles after a shootout in a hilly forest at Kaokhali in Rangamati hill district on May 12 last.

The defendants were awarded with capital punishment after the charge of masterminding and executing in a planned way the brutal killing of the monk pressed against them under Section 302/34/120 (B) of the Penal Code was proved beyond doubt, the judge said.

The court ordered to execute the convicts by hanging them until death upon approval of the High Court.

The judgement, however, provided for the convicts to appeal to the higher court within seven days after receipt of attested copies of the verdict.

The court also fined the convicts Tk 10,000 each with an order to deposit the penalty money to the national exchequer.

After the April-21 gory murder of Gyanojyoti Mohathero in 2002, his brother Sulal Barua filed a case with Raozan Police Station.

A number of ministers including the home minister visited the spot and assured to bring the killers to justice. Awami League lawmakers and leaders of different social and human rights organisations also visited the scene and staged demonstrations on the Buddhist temple premises demanding immediate arrest and punishment of the killers.

MURDER DETAILS
The investigation into the gruesome killing made its first headway after Detective Branch of police nabbed Aliach with a AK-47 assault rifle loaded with 13 rounds of .22-bore bullets in City Gate area at Pahartoli in the port city on December 21, 2002, eight months into the incident.

In a confessional statement made under Section 164, Eliach said he and six others, including Haq and Putul Barua, were involvement in the murder. Aliach said he himself had slaughtered the monk with a sword.

Narrating the incident, Aliach said their seven-member killing squad entered the Buddhist temple at around 9:00pm on April 21 and directly went to meet the monk at a room adjoining to his sleeping quarters on the first floor of the orphanage building.

They started a casual talk with the monk and thus passed around four hours in a friendly atmosphere rousing no suspicion. During the talk they were also served with tea twice.

At around 1:00pm, they pretended to take leave when the monk sent 10-year old Sebayet (a novice) Mohanam Sramon to see them off. But as the gang reached near the collapsible gate of the building on the ground floor, two of them -- Manik and Putul -- tied up Sramon to a pillar gagging him with his own wrapper.

The killing squad then climbed beck to the first floor and entered the monk's sleeping room. The monk was preparing to go to bed when Nurul, Manik and Putul dragged him down to the floor, gagged him with pressing a pillow on his face. Eliach then beheaded the victim with a sword.

LEGAL PROCESS
The investigating team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Chittagong submitted the charge sheet in the case accusing seven persons of the murder on August 10, 2003.

Of the seven charge-sheeted accusees, Gias Uddin alias Gias, 23, the second-in-command of another Raozan-based criminal group Jane Alam Bahini and also accused of another dozen of crimes, was lynched in Raozan on October 26 last year.

The trial of the case began at the First Additional District and Sessions Judge Court on May 17 this year. The court gave the verdict yesterday after 20 working days, in which it heard 22 witnesses out of a total of 37, sources said.

Public Prosecutor Kafil Uddin and Advocate Shambhu Prashad Bishwash represented the state and the plaintiff respectively, while advocates Ferdous Ahmed and Nasir Uddin Chowdhury appeared on behalf of the accusees.

Kafil Uddin expressed his satisfaction over the verdict saying it would strengthen people's faith in the judicial system.

Defendant lawyer Nasir Chowdhury however alleged the verdict by sentencing all the accusees to death has deprived them proper justice, adding they would appeal to the higher court against the judgement.

Meanwhile, Gyanojyoti Bhixmu Assassination Judgement National Movement Committee, Bangladesh in an instant reaction expressed its satisfaction over the verdict, terming it a proper one.