A court of Habiganj on Tuesday afternoon accepted the charge sheet against 32 accused, including former State Minister Lutfozzaman Babar, in the case filed under the Explosive Substances Act in connection with the grenade attack that killed former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria.
Judge Mohammad Atab Ullah of the Special Tribunal-1 of Habiganj accepted the charge sheet on Tuesday. The tribunal also issued arrest warrant against the ten fugitives of the case.Kibria, a technocrat minister of the Awami League-led government during 1996-2001 tenure, and four others were killed while many others were injured in the grenade attack.
Kibria was returning to Dhaka after attending a rally at Baidderbazar in Habiganj on January 27, 2005.
Local Awami League leader Abdul Majid Khan filed two cases- one for murder and the other under the Explosives Act. Thirty-two people including Babar, Habiganj Municipality Mayor GK Gaus, Sylhet City Corporation’s sacked mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury and banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad leader Mufti Hannan are accused in both the cases. Of the accused, 14 are in the jail, while eight secured bail from the court. Ten others are on the run since the cases were filed.
On September 13, last year, the Speedy Trial Tribunal of Sylhet framed charges against 32 people in the case, filed about murder. – Court Correspondent
