BNP’s Annie, eight others acquitted in 2013 petrol bomb case

A Dhaka tribunal today acquitted nine BNP leaders and activists, including the party's Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, in a case filed under the Explosive Substances Act over a petrol bomb attack during a hartal in 2013.

The other acquitted individuals are BNP Executive Committee member Habibur Rashid Habib, Central Organising Secretary Ishaq Ali Sarkar, Swechchasebak Dal General Secretary Abdul Kader Bhuiyan, former Dhaka South City Corporation ward councillors Kazi Abul Bashar, Mokbul Islam Khan Tipu, and MA Shahed Montu, former Sutrapur thana BNP general secretary Abdus Sattar Miah, and party activist Md Salahuddin.

Judge Md Jannatul Ferdous Ibne Haque of Dhaka Special Tribunal-14 passed the verdict in the presence of Annie and Habib.

The remaining seven accused were absent during the delivery of the judgement, said Advocate Mohi Uddin Chowdhury.

In the judgment, the court noted that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations due to insufficient witness testimony. Despite repeated summons and non-bailable arrest warrants, only six prosecution witnesses, including the complainant, gave statements during the trial.

According to the case statement, at around 8:45pm on November 10, 2013, during a hartal called by the BNP-led 18-party alliance, a petrol bomb was thrown at a human hauler in Dhaka's Sutrapur area, leaving five people injured by burns.

Following the incident, complainant Nayan Karkun filed a case with Sutrapur Police Station against former Dhaka City Corporation Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka and nine others under the Explosive Substances Act.

Detective Branch Inspector Anwar Alam Azad submitted the charge sheet on May 21, 2019. However, the tribunal later dropped Khoka's name from the case after his death from cancer on November 4, 2019.