Hearing on charge framing Sept 27
A Dhaka court yesterday adjourned until September 27 the hearing on charge framing against BNP Senior Vice-chairman Tarique Rahman and 29 others accused in August 21 grenade attack cases.
The Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 passed the order after the lawyers of 11 accused including three former inspectors general of police (IGPs) submitted separate petitions seeking time to prepare for the hearing.
The lawyers pleaded for time saying they had not yet received the necessary documents of the cases.
Ashraful Huda, Khoda Baksh Chowdhury and Shahudul Haque served as IGPs during the tenure of the BNP-led four-party coalition government.
In another development, advocate Abdur Rezak Khan lodged a petition at the court seeking permission to be Tarique's defence lawyer.
The lawyer said Zia family requested him to defend Tarique in the cases.
The prosecution argued no lawyer has the right to file a petition on behalf of a fugitive accused.
The court will give decision on the issue once the charges are framed.
Advocate Sanaullah Miah, lawyer of former director general of National Security Intelligence Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, filed another petition seeking a ban on airing a news item on Bangladesh Television (BTV) implicating Tarique and several others in the grenade attacks as the trial is still pending.
The lawyer said BTV has been broadcasting the news after Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan gave a confessional statement implicating Tarique.
Thirty-two accused, who are now behind bars, were produced before the tribunal. They include former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.
Criminal Investigation Department submitted the supplementary charge sheets on July 3 mentioning 30 names in addition to the 22 accused in the main charge sheets.
Twenty-four people were killed and around 200 others injured in the grisly grenade attack on an AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21 in 2004.
The then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped the attack.
Police filed two cases--one under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and the other for killing people--in this connection.
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