Six acquitted for 1975 Bangladesh independence killings

BANGLADESH: Six Bangladeshi men convicted of murder in a politically sensitive case that has gripped the nation for more than three decades were acquitted Thursday, a court official said.

The men — among 21 who were initially charged — were convicted in 2004 in the “Jail Killings” case, so-called because the victims were killed while behind bars.

The victims, four close associates of Bangladesh’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were shot at close range inside Dhaka Central Jail before dawn on November 3, 1975.

The killings took place soon after Sheikh Mujib, who had led a bloody struggle for independence from Pakistan in 1971, was assassinated in a coup along with more than 20 members of his family.

DHAKA, Friday, AFP