Jessore – Three condemned killers of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) founder president Kazi Aref Ahmed and four other party men were hanged at Jessore Central Jail on Thursday night. Anwar Hossain and Rashedul Islam Jhantu of Khursa village in Mirpur Upazila of Kushtia district were hanged around 11:01pm while Safayet Hossain Habib of Rajnagar village in the same upazila was executed at about 11:45pm, said jail sources. Deputy commissioner of the district Dr Humayun Kabir, the civil surgeon and police super Anisur Rahman were present during the execution. Five people, including Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader and one of the Liberation War organisers Kazi Aref Ahmed, were shot to death by some miscreants at a rally in Kushtia on February 16, 1999. Ishak Ali, the then sub-inspector of Daulatpur Police Station, filed a case the following day. On August 30, 2004, a Kushtia court sentenced 10 people to death and 11 others to life imprisonment in the case. Later, the High Court upheld the death sentence of nine condemned convicts and acquitted 11 others. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court rejected the petitions of three convicts against the death penalty.- Agencies
