Today marks Jail Killing Day, commemorating the brutal assassination of four key organisers of the Liberation War and Awami League leaders. On this day in 1975, Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, AHM Qamaruzzaman, and Captain Mansur Ali were killed inside Dhaka Central Jail.
The day after the killings, then Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Kazi Abdul Awal filed a murder case at Lalbagh Police Station. After decades of legal proceedings, on October 20, 2004, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Matiur Rahman delivered the verdict.
The court sentenced retired Raisalder Moslemuddin, dismissed Dafadar Marfat Ali Shah, and dismissed Dafadar Abul Hashem Mridha to death. Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, along with eight others, received life imprisonment.
Former ministers and BNP leaders KM Obaidur Rahman, Shah Moazzem Hossain, Nurul Islam Manzur, and Taheruddin Thakur were acquitted in the case.