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| Bangladesh |
| Trial of Aug 21 grenade attack case begins |
| 2008-11-18 |
| Trial of the August 21 grenade attack cases began at a Dhaka court yesterday with deposition of the complainant. Judge Mohammad Masdar Hossain of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 recorded the statement of the complainant, Sub-Inspector Sharif Faruque Ahmed. Later, Advocate Aminul Goni Titu, counsel for one of the accused, cross-examined the complainant. Following a time petition on behalf of accused Arif Hassan Sumon, the court fixed November 23 for next hearing of the case. On that day, the complainant will be cross-examined again. During yesterday's hearing, 14 out of 22 accused, including detained former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and Harkatul Jihad (Huji) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, were produced before the court. Two cases were filed for launching grenade attack on the rally on August 21, 2004 that left 24 people dead and scores injured. In his deposition, Faruque told the court that he was on duty on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. AL chief Sheikh Hasina and other party leaders joined a rally there. When Hasina was about to get down from a truck after delivering her speech at about 5:00pm, a grenade exploded in front of the truck. In the grenade attack, he said, several AL leaders and activists were injured and Hasina left the scene with the help of AL men and police personnel. After a while, seven to eight grenades exploded, leaving more than a hundred people injured. The complainant went on that he along with others took immediate steps for sending the injured to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Another patrol police team came to the spot and found a grenade in front of Ramna Petrol Pump at about 9:20pm. In the meantime, Faruque said that he came to know that 10 people succumbed to their injuries at DMCH while three at Orthopaedic Hospital. He said the then officer-in-charge (OC) of Motijheel Police Station directed him to prepare inquest reports on the dead. "As per the directive, I went to DMCH and made inquest reports on four identified and nine unidentified bodies, which were later sent to the hospital morgue for post mortem examinations". He further said that no cases in connection with the grenade attacks were filed with the police station concerned as of 9:00am of the following day. So, he filed a case with Motijheel Police Station. "After filing of the case, I came to know that AL leader Ivy Rahman succumbed to her injuries," Faruque said. On June 11 this year, senior assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Fazlul Kabir, also the investigation officer of the cases, submitted two charge sheets to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka, showing 412 people as prosecution witnesses. |
| Posted by:Fred |