BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday got bails in a sedition case and nine arson cases after she surrendered before two separate Dhaka courts.

The arson attack cases were filed with Darussalam Police Station in January, February and March last year.

The same day Khaleda also appeared before two separate courts in connection with Niko and Barapukuria coalmine graft cases.

In the sedition case, Metropolitan Sessions Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah accepted the charge against the BNP chairperson and granted bail to her after she surrendered before the court and sought bail.

Momtaz Uddin Ahmad Mehedi, a Supreme Court lawyer and member of the central committee of ruling Awami League, filed the case against Khaleda for her remarks on the number of martyrs during the Liberation War of 1971.

The same court also granted bails to Khaleda in eight arson attack cases filed with Draussalam Police Station. The court then took cognizance of the charges in five cases.

The court fixed October 10 for the next date of hearing in the sedition and eight arson cases.

Police in May and June this year pressed charges against Khaleda and more than 80 leaders and activists of 20-party alliance, led by the BNP, for arson attacks on passenger buses during a three-month-long non-stop movement called by the alliance last year.

The investigation officers in all the charge sheets cited Khaleda as a fugitive and the mastermind of the attacks and they appealed to the court to issue arrest warrants against her.

In the Barapukuria coalmine graft case, Khaleda appeared before the Special Judge's Court-2 where Judge Hosne Ara Begum fixed September 8 for the next hearing of the case.

In the case, BNP leaders MK Anwar, Dr Khondaker Mosharraf Hossain, AKM Mosharraf Hossain and five others were also present before the court. 

Khaleda later appeared before the court of Special Judge Aminul Islam where the prosecution started placing arguments on charge framing against Khaleda and 10 others in connection with the Niko graft case.

Following a brief hearing, the court fixed August 16 for the next hearing of the case.  

The BNP chief then appeared before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Nurunnahar Yeasmin, seeking bail in the ninth arson attack case filed with Darussalam Police Station. 

Khaleda was allowed to sit down in a chair during all court proceedings in all the court rooms.

Earlier, the BNP chairperson started from her Gulshan residence at 10:05am and reached the court premises at 11:22am, Sayrul Kabir Khan, a press wing staff of the BNP chief, told The Daily Star.

Enormous traffic jams were created in the vicinity of the court area as a large number of attendees of the courts spilled onto the roads while they had to walk through security scanners placed at entry points of the court building.

A large number of law enforcers ensured strict security measures in and around the court premises to avert any untoward situation. 

Leaders and activists of the BNP gathered along the roadsides from Gulistan toward Victoria Park area to welcome their party leader. They chanted slogans praising her and demanding her acquittal from all cases.