Saudi embassy staffer`s suspected killers indicted

The killing had occurred in March and Bangladesh had assured Saudi Arabia that it will conduct a speedy trial in the case.

Dhaka: The five suspects in the murder of a Saudi embassy staffer were indicted on Wednesday by a Bangladeshi fast track court which set a trial hearing for tomorrow, after the accused pleaded not guilty.

The killing had occurred in March and Bangladesh had assured Saudi Arabia that it will conduct a speedy trial in the case.

Court officials said Speedy Trial Tribunal judge Mohammad Motahar Hossain indicted the suspects. Four of the suspects were present in court while the fifth suspect is still on the run.

"The tribunal fixed November 1 for the beginning of the trial hearing," a court official said.

He said the four, now in police custody, claimed to be innocent after the judge read out the murder charges in line with the legal practice.

Saudi embassy official Khalaf Al Ali was shot dead near his house on the night of March 6. The autopsy and police reports said the assailants used a single bullet that pierced through his chest.

Bangladesh`s law minister Shafique Ahmed earlier assured the Saudi government that the killers would be tried in a fast track court under the speedy trial act and the trial was expected to be completed by December.

Bangladesh police in July this month said they arrested four suspected assailants but found the mysterious murder a simple incident of mugging.
"They confessed their involvement in the killing during the interrogation... It appears to be an unplanned murder and case of simple mugging," police Detective Branch`s deputy commissioner Nazrul Islam had said earlier.

Saudi Arabia had sent a fact-finding delegation to Bangladesh as no apparent headway could be made in the investigation for months.

Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Al Bussairy told reporters earlier that the Saudi government was happy with the arrest of Ali`s suspected killers and Dhaka`s assurance of trying the killers in quickest possible time.

The government last week transferred the case to the tribunal from the ordinary Metropolitan Sessions Judge`s Court for quick disposal.

PTI

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