Dhaka – Awami League MPs Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Mirza Azam and 15 other people have been acquitted of charges of the arson attack on a bus in the capital in 2004 that killed 11 people.The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Keshab Roy Chowdhury passed the order on September 24. However, the acquittal came to the notice of the media on Sunday.
In its order, the court said, “The names of those who were involved in the incident were not mentioned in the probe report and it’s unlikely to be proved in the future. So, the accused have been acquitted.”
The others who were cleared of the charges are Abu Sayeed Khokan, Dinesh Sarkar, Abdul Mannan, Jahangir Alam, Shahidul Islam Thandu, Abu Hannan Siddiqui, M Monir, Ujjal Mahmud, Rezaul Karim, M Masum, Anwar Hossain Sujon, Shafiqul Islam Kalu, Gazi Habibul Alam, Hasanur Rahman and Ruhul Amin.
On June 4, 2004, miscreants set ablaze a double-decker BRTC bus in front of Hotel Sheraton (now Ruposhi Bangla Hotel) in the capital’s Shahbagh during a Awami League-enforced hartal, killing its 11 passengers.
The following day, a case was filed after the incident.
Assistant police super Khandaker Abdul Halim of Criminal Investigation Department submitted the final report in the case on February 7 this year. – UNB
