A court here yesterday sentenced four people to death and one man to rigorous imprisonment for life in a college student murder case in the district.

District and Sessions Judge Shahidul Alam Jhinuk handed down the verdict.

The death penalty awardees are Badsha Mia of Shimulia village in Shivalaya upazila, Lal Mia of Bhatirchar village in Singair upazila of Manikganj, Ajgar Chowdhury of Koshla village in Kotalipara upazila of Gopalganj and Anwar Hossain of Sangkar village in Chirirbandar upazila of Dinajpur.

The lifer is Akter Hossain Jamal of Kaliarchar-Hajirtek village under Araihajar upazila of Narayanganj.

The court fined the convicts with death penalty Tk 20,000 each and the lifer was fined Tk 50,000, in default, to serve one year more in jail.

However, Md Alam, Md Masud and Shukkur Ali of Shimulia village were acquitted as the charges brought against them could not be proved, said advocate Abdus Salam, public prosecutor (PP) of Manikganj Judge's Court.

Death penalty awardees Badsha Mia, Lal Mia and the acquitted people were present at the court during announcement of the verdict, the PP said.

According to the case statement, Badsha Mia took his nephew Monir Hossain, a first year intermediate student of Khan Bahadur Awlad Hossain College, to Savar on September 9, 2015 in the name of giving him a job in Bangladesh Army.

Badsha demanded ransom of Tk 20 lakh from Monir's family the next day.

Badsha said he, with the help of his accomplices, killed Monir on September 10 after his family refused to pay the ransom, adding that they tied stones with the body and dumped it into the Bongshai river.

Victim's mother Maleka Begum filled a case with Manikganj Police Station on September 10.

Police arrested Badsha from Savar the same day after tracking his mobile phone. Munir's body was recovered from the river on September 13.