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| Former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, Photo Credit: Dhaka Tribune |
DHAKA: A court on Dhaka capital of Bangladesh has sentenced former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, and 18 others, to death, in the August 21 grenade attack case. And BNP leader Tarique Rahman and 18 others have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Tarique Rahman, and 18 others, have received life imprisonment in the case. Eleven others have been sentenced to various jail terms. Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Dhaka ’s Speedy Trial Tribunal delivered the verdict around 11:50pm on Wednesday.
A grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka , on August 21, 2004, left 24 people including Ivy Rahman dead and more than 300 others injured.
The prime target of the attack was then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina, narrowly escaped death but suffered hearing loss. According to the charge sheet, the attack was orchestrated by a group of influential BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Working with militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh
“They [those sentenced to death] shall be hanged by neck until they are dead,” Nuruddin proclaimed as 31 of the 49 accused were present on the dock, BSS reports.
The judge also made 12-point observations on the background, motive, and consequences of the attack.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters that the government would take steps to repatriate the fugitive convicts.
The convicts
Those who have been sentenced to death are: Babar; Abdus Salam Pintu; Mawlana Tajuddin; intelligence officials major general (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury and Brigadier General Abdur Rahim; transport operator Md Hanif; as well as militants Mawlana Sheikh Abdus Salam, Abdul Mazed Bhat, Abdul Malek, Shawkat Osman, Mohibullah, Abu Sayeed, Abul Kalam Azad, Jahangir Alam, Hafez Abu Taher, Hossain Ahammed Tamim, Moin Uddin Sheikh, Rafikul Islam, and Md Uzzal.
They have also been fined Tk1 lakh each, according to BSS.
Apart from Tarique, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s then-political adviser Haris Chowdhury, and former BNP MP Qazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, received life imprisonment.
Others sentenced to life imprisonment are militants: Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel, Abdur Rouf, Sabbir Ahmed, Arif Hasan, Hafez Yahia, Abu Bokor, Ariful Islam, Mohibul Muttakin, Anisul Mursalin, Mohammad Khalil, Jahangir Alam Badar, Mohammad Iqbal, Liton, Shafikur Rahman, Abdul Hai, and Ratul Ahmed Babu.
They all were fined Tk50 thousand, each, in the case lodged under the Explosive Substances Act.
Source: DhakaTribune
Source: DhakaTribune
News Category:
Asia
Bangladesh
Crime
Politics
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