Dhaka: Convicted mastermind of seven-murder case of Narayanganj Nur Hossain on Monday filed an appeal against his death sentence handed down by a trial court.

Nur Hossain's counsel Lutfur Rahman Akhand filed the appeal pleaded for his acquittal from the charges in a 72-page appeal prayer.

A Narayanganj court handed him down the death penalty on January 16, along with 25 others mostly sacked personnel of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) including two army officers and a navy officer who were serving in the elite anti-crime police unit on deputation.

Nur Hossain and the three ex-armed forces personnel -- sacked lieutenant colonel Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, major Arif Hossain and navy's lieutenant 
commander SM Masud Rana -- were among those who faced the trial in person.

Of the total 35 convicts, 12 were tried in absentia and of the fugitives three are on the run to evade justice with death sentence.

The appeal came a day after Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha ordered an intensified process to prepare the paper book on death reference in the trial.