HC grants 6-month bail to Khaleda in Comilla arson case

The High Court today granted bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for six months in an arson case filed under the Special Powers Act 1974 in Comilla in 2015.

The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice SM Mujibur Rahman granted her bail following an appeal filed by Khaleda on July 29 seeking bail in the case.

Deputy Attorney General Dr Mohammad Bashir Ullah told The Daily Star that the government will move an appeal before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the HC’s bail order.

Khaleda cannot get release from the jail following today's HC order as she is arrested in some few other cases.

Eight people were killed and many injured after a bus was torched in Chauddagram upazila of Comilla on February 2, 2015, during the anti-government agitation.

The next day two cases were filed with Chauddagram Police Station -- one for murder and another for arson.

On July 23, the HC directed a Comilla court to hear and dispose of her bail petition in the case by July 26.

Following the HC order, on July 25, the Comilla court rejected Khaleda's bail petition in connection with the arson case.

Khaleda filed a bail petition with the HC challenging the Comilla court's order.

On February 8, Khaleda was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.