JMB chief's trial in Sylhet now to begin June 16

Trial of the explosives case against JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen, Bangladesh) chief Abdur Rahman and his accomplices could not be started in Sylhet District Judge's court on Thursday as the principal accused (Abdur Rahman) could not be brought to Sylhet. Other accused were however on the dock.

The court fixed June 16 for hearing the case, Public Prosecutor (PP) Nurul Haque told the Daily Star.

Trial of the arms case against Abdur Rahman also could not be started in the same court on June 5 as the accused could not be brought here. He was produced in a court in Dhaka on that day in another case.

Charge sheet in the explosives case against Abdur Rahman and his accomplices was submitted to Sylhet Sadar Magistrate Court on May 18. Case records were sent to the District Judge's court on May 21.

Sylhet Police Superintendent of Mallik Fokhrul Islam told this correspondent that submission of the charge sheet in the sensational case was delayed as the central monitoring committee of home ministry in first week of April detected some flaws while making a final check.

Abdur Rahman was caught along with his family and two aides by Rapid Action battalion (Rab) and police on March 2 morning from a house in East Shaplabag in Sylhet city.

Seven others have been charged for possessing bombs and a huge quantity of explosive materials, recovered during the March 2 raid. They are Abdur Rahman's wife Nurjahan Begum alias Rupa, daughter Afifa Rahman, two aides--Moizul Islam Chowdhury alias Hridoy Chowdhury and Abdul Aziz Alias Hanif, Hridoy's wife Sabina Islam, Moulana Saidur Rahman and Shabbir Ahmed.

Saidur Rahman, former Amir of Jmaat-e-Islam in Habiganj, is absconding.

Abdul Aziz Hanif, JMB's Ehsar member and a former leader of Jamaat's student front Shibir, in his confessional statement in court earlier said he was involved in the August 17 bomb blasts in Sylhet city.