CHATTOGRAM, April 29, 2026 (BSS) - A court here today sentenced seven people to life imprisonment for the murder of expatriate Md Rafiq in the city's Amirbagh area.

Judge Muhammad Ali Akkas of the Chattogram Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Sixth Court pronounced the verdict.

The convicts are Md Bellal Hossain, Zakir Hossain, Shahid Raja alias Shahid, Hossain alias Md Hossain, Jamal, Jasim and Milton Sardar. The court, however, acquitted eight others as the charges against them could not be proven.

Those acquitted are Md Humayun Kabir, Panu Bepari, Abu Taher, Monir Hossain, Md Dalim Mallick, Kabir Bepari, Kamal Sikder, Sahab Uddin and Moin Uddin.

According to the prosecution, the evidence against the convicted persons was found to be credible, leading to their conviction and life sentences.

The court also fined each of the convicts Tk 25,000, in default of which they will have to serve an additional one year in jail.

Four of the convicts-Bellal Hossain, Zakir Hossain, Shahid Raja and Hossain-were present during the pronouncement of the verdict and were sent to jail. The remaining three-Jamal, Jasim and Milton Sardar-were absconding, and the court issued arrest warrants against them.

Case documents state that Md Rafiq, an expatriate in the United Arab Emirates, returned home on July 16, 2007. On August 14 that year, he left his in-laws' residence in Kadamtali for a nearby market and went missing after speaking to his family around 9:00 pm.

Later that night, his family was informed by a colleague, and they found him dead at Chattogram Medical College Hospital. Investigations revealed that he had been murdered and his body dumped in the Amirbagh area.

Following the incident, the victim's brother, Zakir Hossain Lulu, filed a murder case with Kotwali Police Station.