50 Satkhira BNP men indicted

A court here on Monday framed charges against 50 BNP men, including a former lawmaker, in connection with the attack on the motorcade of the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina in Kolaroa upazila in 2002.

Satkhira Chief Judicial Magistrate Nitai Chandra Saha framed charges against the 50 and fixed June 28 for beginning of the trial.

Sheikh Shafiqur Rahman, inspector (Investigation) of Kolaroa Police Station, submitted the charge sheet to the Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court against 50 leaders and activists of BNP, including former local lawmaker Habibul Islam Habib and municipality mayor Aktarul Islam, on May 4.

“The convoy of Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader, came under attack allegedly by some unruly BNP men at the order of the then lawmaker Habibul Islam Habib in Kolaroa upazila while she was visiting the district on August 30 in 2002,” said freedom fighter and local Awami League leader Md Moslem Uddin, complainant of the case.

“The attackers fired gunshots to kill Hasina but she survived the assassination attempt while others accompanying her sustained injuries. Several journalists were also assaulted during the incident,” he said.

Failing to lodge a case with the local police station, Moslem Uddin filed a case with Satkhira magistrate's court against 27 BNP men in connection with the gun attack. The court then ordered local police to investigate the case and submit a report in 2002.

Local police submitted a final report to the court on December 25, 2003. However, the court settled the case after a hearing in April the following year.

In 2014, the High Court (HC) ordered the Satkhira Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court to restart the case, after the plaintiff filed a petition with the HC seeking re-investigation into the incident.

On October 15 in 2014, the chief judicial magistrate of Satkhira ordered the officer in-charge of Kolaroa Police Station to record the case as a regular one.