Dhaka: Sacked RAB-11 official Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad and sub-inspector Purnendu Bala, who along with others were sentenced to death in the Narayanganj seven-murder cases, filed separate petitions with the High Court on Tuesday challenging the capital punishment.

Counsels of the two condemned convicts filed the appeals whey they sought acquittal, said Ahsan Ullah, a counsel of Tareque Sayeed.

Earlier on Monday, Nur Hossain, another condemned convict, filed an appeal with the HC against the death penalty awarded by a Narayanganj court on January 16.

On January 22, the death references of the seven murder cases reached the High Court.

Chief Justice SK Sinha on Sunday ordered the authorities concerned of the High Court to prepare the paper book for hearing the death reference in the Narayanganj seven-murder case quickly.

After getting the paper book, the hearing on the death references and appeal petitions filed by the condemned convicts will be placed on the cause list on the priority basis and if any condemned convict does not file any appeal before the court, the death references of the convicts will be placed for hearing.

If the HC upheld the lower court verdict, the convicts will get 30 days for filling appeal with the Supreme Court against the judgment of the High Court and the execution of their verdict will depend on the Appellate Division.

On January 16, a Narayanganj court sentenced 26 people, including sacked RAB officers Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, to death and nine others to different jail terms in the sensational seven-murder cases.

On April 27 in 2014, seven persons, including councilor Nazrul Islam of Narayanganj City Corporations (NCC), Advocate Chandan Sarker, were abducted from Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road.

The bodies of six of them were recovered from the Shitalakhya River three days after the abduction, while another from the same river the next day.