A Dhaka court has postponed the date of pronouncement of the verdict in the high-profile murder case of Sagira Morshed who was shot dead by miscreants in the capital's Siddheshwari area in 1989.
The decision was made in the court of Judge Muhammad Ali Hossain of Dhaka Special Judge Court-3 on Tuesday.
However, as the judge of the concerned court was on vacation on that day, the date of the verdict was postponed to March 13.
Stenographer of the concerned court Mehdi Hasan confirmed the information.
On January 25, the court fixed the date of February 8 for the announcement of the judgment after presenting the arguments of the state and the accused.
However, as the judgment was not ready on that day, the court postponed it to February 20.
The individuals accused in this case are Dr Hasan Ali Chowdhury, 71, Sagira's brother-in-law; his wife Sayedatul Mahmuda alias Shahin, 65; Mahmud Rezwan, 60; Maruf Reza, 60; and Mantu Mandal alias Mintu.
The testimony of 17 of the 57 witnesses in the case has been completed so far.
Sagira Morshed was shot on Shiddeshwari Road in Dhaka, on July 25, 1989, on her way to pick up her daughter from Viqarunnisa Noon School and College. The assailants, riding a motorcycle, attempted to rob her gold bangle and shot her as she tried to escape, leading to her death en route to the hospital.
The murder case was initially filed by Sagira's husband, Salam Chowdhury, at Ramna police station. A chargesheet against Mantu was submitted on January 17, 1991. Subsequent orders from the High Court transferred the case to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).
The PBI investigation revealed that the murder was not a simple mugging but involved a deeper family feud. On January 15, 2020, Inspector Rafiqul Islam of PBI Dhaka (South) Metropolitan submitted a new chargesheet. Later, on November 13, 2020, Dr Hasan and his wife Shahin confessed to their involvement in Sagira's murder before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain.
Following these developments, the PBI arrested Dr Hasan upon his return from abroad, presenting him before the magistrate's court as part of their ongoing investigation into the murder, which has now spanned over three decades.
