A court in Dhaka has sentenced ten people to death for their involvements in the bomb attack on Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) rally at Dhaka’s Paltan ground in 2001. Judge Md Robiul Alam of the Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court of Dhaka pronounced the verdict on Monday after 19 years of the incident, said Public Prosecutor Salauddin Hawladar.
The death-row convicts are Mufti Moin Uddin Sheikh, Arif Hossain Sumon, Mawlana Sabbir Ahmed, Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Jahangir Alam Badar, Mohibul Muttakin, Aminul Mursalin, Nur Islam, Mufti Abdul Hai and Mufti Shafikur Rahman. The court also acquitted Md Moshiur Rahman and Rafikul Islam Miraz after they were not proven guilty.
On Dec 1, the court set Jan 20 to pass the judgment in the case after examining 38 witnesses on different occasions. Five people were killed and 20 others injured in the attack on CPB rally in capital’s Paltan Maidan on Jan 20, 2001. Then CPB president Manzurul Ahsan Khan filed the case with Motijheel Police Station. However, police had given the final report in 2003, saying it did not find any credible evidences in the case.
Police in 2005 reopened the case and on Nov 26, 2013, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) gave charge sheets against 13 activists of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) in two cases lodged over murder and explosives substances acts. On Aug 21, 2014, the court framed charges in the cases.
The accused are-HuJI leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, Mufti Moin Uddin Sheikh, Arif Hossain Sumon, Mawlana Sabbir Ahmed, Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Md Moshiur Rahman, Jahangir Alam Badar, Mohibul Muttakin, Aminul Mursalin, Mufti Abdul Hai, Mufti Shafikur Rahman, Rafikul Islam Miraz and Nur Islam. Of the 13, Mufti Abdul Hannan has been executed earlier in another case and his name has been dropped from this one. Eight suspects in the case are on the run.
