DHAKA: The Bangladesh High Court has reduced ULFA leader Paresh Barua’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
It also acquitted former state minister Lutfuzzaman Babar and five others in a 2004 arms smuggling case.
In April 2004, authorities seized 10 truckloads of weapons in Chattogram, formerly known as Chittagong.
The consignment included over 27,000 grenades, 150 rocket launchers, 1,100 sub-machine guns, and 11.41 million bullets.
These weapons were allegedly meant for ULFA hideouts in northeastern India.
Investigators believe the arms were brought into Bangladesh with help from some DGFI and NSI officials.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasrin Akhtar, passed the verdict.
Barua, convicted in absentia, is believed to be residing in China.
The court also overturned the convictions of six others.
This includes Babar, a former junior minister for home affairs, and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Motiur Rahman Nizami.
Nizami, a former industries minister, was executed years ago for crimes during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War.
Others acquitted include ex-DGFI chief Major General Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, CUFL’s ex-MD Mohsin Talukder, its general manager Enamul Hoque, and former industries ministry official Nurul Amin. The CUFL site was allegedly used to trans-ship the weapons.
In 2014, a Chattogram tribunal sentenced 14 people to death, including Barua, Babar, Nizami, and two former army generals.
The case was delayed for years under the BNP-led government, with alleged harassment of investigating officers.
A military-backed government in 2008 reopened the case and ordered further investigation.
The probe revealed that the weapons were made by Chinese firm NORINCO.
However, the ship carrying the arms could not be identified.
Babar’s lawyer argued that his client was falsely implicated for political reasons.
He also claimed the prosecution failed to provide credible evidence.
Babar was also previously sentenced to death for a grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina in 2004 but was recently acquitted in that case.
This ruling highlights a key arms smuggling case involving political figures, military officials, and cross-border separatist movements.
