Charge framing not held as 6 accused not taken to court

The trial court of the August 21 grenade attack case could not frame charges against the accused, including former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and Harkatul Jihad (Huji) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, as six of the arrested accused were not brought to court yesterday.
Judge KM Rasheduzzaman Raja of the Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court fixed July 22 for next charge-framing hearing and directed the jail authorities to produce all the arrested accused on that day.
The case was filed for grisly grenade attacks on an Awami League (AL) rally on August 21, 2004 which left 23 people dead and around 200 injured.
Other accused now behind bars are Mufti Hannan's brother Mohibullah alias Mofizur Rahman alias Ovi, Sharif Shahidul Islam aka Bipul, Maulana Abu Sayeed aka Dr Abu Zafar, Abul Kalam Azad alias Bulbul, Jahangir Alam, Maulana Abu Taher, Shahadatullah Jewel, Hossain Ahmed Tamim, Mufti Moinuddin Sheikh alias Abu Zandal alias Masum Billah, Arif Hasan Sumon, Rafiqul Islam Sabuj and Mohammad Ujjal aka Ratan.
Of them, Pintu, Hannan, Mofiz, Sumon, Bipul, Abu Taher, Sabuj and Ratan were turned in to the court during yesterday's hearing. The jail authorities could not produce the rest six, kept in different jails across the country, before the judge.
The eight accused who are in hiding are Pintu's brothers Maulana Tajuddin, Maulana Litton, Anisul Mursalin and his brother Mahibul Muttakin, Iqbal, Maulana Abu Bakar alias Selim Howlader, Jahangir Alam Badar and Khalilur Rahman.
Investigation officer (IO) Fazlul Kabir, also an assistant superintendent (ASP) at Criminal Investigation Department (CID), submitted charge sheet against the accused on June 11.
Eight of the arrested gave confessional statements under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Police had filed two cases with Motijheel Police Station one day after the grenade attacks.
On June 5 last year, one Badar Aziz Uddin from Cox's Bazar filed another case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka charging former premier Khaleda Zia, her son Tarique Rahman, Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and 25 others with murders.
However, IO Fazlul Kabir did not link them to the incident.
The IO submitted charge sheets for the first two cases, accusing 22 people in each case.
The IO also prayed for discharging 34 arrestees including Juj Miah, Shafiqul Islam and Abul Kashem who had been forced to implicate themselves in the attacks.