Charges against 41 BNP leaders accepted

A Dhaka court yesterday accepted the charges recently brought against 41 BNP leaders including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Moudud Ahmed in connection with assaulting police and torching vehicles in the capital last year.

Metropolitan Magistrate SM Ashiqur Rahman took cognizance of the charges after scrutinising the case diary and other relevant documents.

All of the 41 BNP men except for Fakhrul and Moudud were present at the court yesterday.

The court also transferred the charges submitted to it over blasting cocktails in the same incident to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court of Dhaka for a hearing.

According to law, CMM court, not the court of SM Ashiqur Rahman,   is empowered to hear any cocktail blast case.       

On Wednesday, detectives pressed charges against the BNP leaders in a case filed for assaulting police, torching vehicles and blasting bombs in front of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Bailey Road on March 2 last year.

Dipak Kumar Das, a sub-inspector of the Detective Branch of police and also the investigating officer (IO) of the case, submitted two separate charge sheets to the court.

One of the charge sheets accuses the BNP leaders of assaulting police, torching vehicles and preventing them from discharging their duties and the other for hurling cocktails at the law enforcers.

The charge-sheeted accused includes BNP Standing Committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Mirza Abbas; joint secretary generals Barakatullah Bulu and Amanullah Aman; and BNP Vice-Chairman Abdullah Al Noman.

Police had filed the case against the 41 BNP men and 1,200 unknown persons with Ramna Police Station over the incident that took place during a BNP-led opposition's street agitation programme.