Hearing deferred

A Dhaka court yesterday deferred until September 15 the hearing on charge framing against BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman and 29 others accused in the supplementary charge sheets of the August 21 grenade attack cases.
Judge Shahed Nuruddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 passed the order after three of the accused submitted petitions seeking adjournment of the hearing.
They are former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, Lt Commander (retd) Saiful Islam Duke and Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider, former chief of National Security Intelligence. In the petitions, their counsels said they had not received necessary documents of the cases to prepare for the hearing.
On July 3, Criminal Investigation Department submitted the supplementary charge sheets mentioning 30 names apart from the 22 accused in the main charge sheets.
Tarique and 10 others were shown as fugitives in the supplementary charge sheets.
Earlier, charges were framed against the accused of the main charge sheets including BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu and chief of Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (Huji) Mufti Abdul Hannan.
The 32 accused of the cases, who are now in jail, were produced before the tribunal yesterday. They include Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed.
Twenty-four people including Awami League leader Ivy Rahman were killed and around 200 others injured in the grisly grenade attack on an AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. The then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped the attack.
Two cases filed in connection with the attack--one under Explosive Substances Act and the other for killing people-- were shifted to the speedy tribunal on September 9 this year for quick disposal.
Meanwhile, two factions of pro-BNP lawyers yesterday engaged in a scuffle in a human chain over space.
Two factions of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, Dhaka unit-- one led by Sanaullah Miah and another by Iqbal Hossain-- were holding the human chain on the court premises demanding withdrawal of all cases filed against Tarique and other party leaders.