A Dhaka court on Monday asked the authorities concerned to publish an advertisement in two Bengali national dailies, asking the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's senior vice-chairman, Tarique Rahman, and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's political secretary, Harris Chowdhury, and 10 others to appear before it in connection with the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in which Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped death.
The metropolitan magistrate in Dhaka, Keshob Roy Chowdhury, passed the order after the concerned police stations submitted reports on the execution of warrants issued earlier for the arrest of the 12 accused, stating that they could not be found as they had gone into hiding.
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, a court can try any accused in his/her absence if the person fails to appear before it by the time stipulated in the published advertisement asking the person to appear.
The order was issued during the hearing of the murder case lodged for killing 24 Awami League leaders and activists in the gruesome attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August, 2004.
On July 14, Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge Mohammad Zahurul Haque issued warrants for the arrest of the 12 accused — Tarique, also BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's eldest son, Harris Chowdhury, BNP lawmaker Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence's former director general Major General (retired) ATM Amin, former DGFI official Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Saiful Islam Joardar, former deputy commissioners of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Khan Sayeed Hasan and Obaidur Rahman who are now officers on special duty, Hanif Transport's owner Md Hanif, and four others allegedly having militant links — Abdur Rauf, also known as Omar Abu Humayra or Peer Saheb Baba, Hafez Moulana Yahiya, Babu, also known as Ratul Babu, and Mufti Abdul Hai — in another case filed for the grenade attack under the Explosive Substances Act.
The metropolitan sessions judge also asked the officers-in-charge of the concerned police stations to submit their reports by August 11.
The police submitted the report on Monday after an order was issued by the metropolitan magistrate's court on July 26, giving them 15 more days to report on the execution of the warrants it had issued for arresting the 12 accused.
The court on July 3 issued warrants for arresting Tarique and 17 others, hours after the submission of supplementary charge-sheets in a case filed on charge of killing people in the grenade attack.
Three former inspectors general of police and three former investigation officers have already surrendered to the court and landed in jail in this connection.
Thirty-one accused, including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, Jamaat-e-Islami's secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu of the BNP, the three former inspectors general of police and three former officials of Criminal Investigation Department were produced before the court on Tuesday.
Another accused, Ariful Islam Arif, a ward councillor of the Dhaka City Corporation and now on bail, was also present in the court.
The CID on July 3 submitted the supplementary charge-sheets in the two cases, pressing charges against Tarique and 29 others.
Tarique, arrested by the army-led joint forces on 7 March, 2007 and sued in at least 12 cases during the regime of the military-controlled government, was released from the prison cell in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital on 3 September, 2008 on bail granted by the High Court in all the 12 cases.
He then went to London for medical treatment, and is yet to return home.
Khaleda's youngest son, Arafat Rahman, was jailed for six years and fined Tk 190.41 million on June 23 for siphoning off SGD 28,84,000 and USD 9,32,000 to Singapore.
Source : New Age
No comments:
Post a Comment