Khulna court sentences three men to death for 2018 murder over business establishment dispute in Batiaghata. Photo : BSS

KHULNA, July 27, 2026 (BSS) - A court here today sentenced three people to death for the murder of a man over a dispute related to a business establishment in Batiaghata upazila here in 2018.

The court also fined each of the convicts Taka 20,000, while acquitting another accused due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fourth Court) Md Khurshid Alam pronounced the verdict in presence of the convicted persons, court bench assistant Md Shah Alam confirmed.

The death-row convicts are Khurshid Alam, Abdus Salam and Khairul Sheikh. Another accused, Ershad, was acquitted.

According to the prosecution, the incident occurred around 8am on March 31, 2018, when Rezaul Sheikh was near his shop at Jhalbari village market. Four assailants, who had been lying in wait, attacked him with bamboo sticks, striking him repeatedly on the head and other parts of the body.

When the victim's younger brother attempted to intervene, he was also assaulted. Rezaul was rushed to Khulna Medical College and Hospital, where on-duty doctors declared him dead.

The case was filed later that evening by the victim's younger brother, Mejbah Uddin, with Batiaghata Police Station, naming four accused.

The prosecution said the murder stemmed from a long-standing dispute over ancestral property and the construction of a shop on the land.

Following the investigation, Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Inspector Md Golam Rasul submitted the charge-sheet against the four accused on September 11, 2019.