A Cox’s Bazar court on Monday sentenced former OC Pradeep Kumar Das and police inspector Liakat Ali to death and six others to life term imprisonment in the Maj (retd) Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan murder case.

The six lifers are constable Sagar Dev, sub-inspector Nandolal Rakkhit, constable Rubel Sharma, Nurul Amin, Md Nizamuddin and Ayaz Uddin.

District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Ismail pronounced the judgment in presence of all the 15 accused, said Public Prosecutor Faridul Alam.

The court, however, acquitted seven other accused.

Also read: Sinha murder case verdict being read out

The 15 accused were brought to the court from Cox's Bazar district jail at 2 pm.

Of the 15 accused, 12 had given confessional statements before court except Pradeep, Sagar Dev and Rubel.

Ahead of the delivery of the judgment, security was beefed up in Cox’s Bazar town.

Additional police personnel have been deployed in and around the court premises while a number of check-posts were set up at different points.

On January 12, the Cox’s Bazar court fixed Monday for the delivery of the judgment.

Sinha murder

On July 31, 2020, Sinha was shot dead at the Shamlapur police check-post in Baharchhara Union of Cox's Bazar while returning to the town after filming for a documentary.

On August 5, 2020, Sinha's sister, Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous, filed a case with Teknaf Senior Judicial Magistrate Court accusing nine members of law enforcement agencies of being involved in the killing, including former officer-in-charge of Teknaf Model Police Station Pradeep Kumar Das and Baharchhara Police Outpost inspector Liakat Ali.

Also read: Sinha murder verdict: Security beefed up in Cox’s Bazar

On December 13, the same year, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) submitted a charge-sheet against 15 people, including ex-OC Pradeep, police source Ayaz and three APBn members, in the case.

On June 27, 2021, the court framed charges against them.