JATRABARI BUS ARSON Khaleda, 37 others face fresh charges.

The police pressed charges against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and 37 others on Tuesday in a case filed under Special Powers Act for the Jatrabari transport arson that had killed a passenger and burned 27 others in January.With the latest charge sheet, a total of three charge sheets were submitted to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court as the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police had submitted two other charge sheets on May 6 against the same persons over the same incident.
DMP’s additional deputy commissioner (prosecution) Anisur Rahman told New Age that the last charge sheet was submitted in one of the two cases filed under the Special Powers Act.

DB’s Demra zone subinspector Zahidul Islam submitted the charge sheet mentioning that seven of the accused, including BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, were in jail and sought warrant for arrest of the rest 31, including Khaleda.In the complaint filed by the police in January, Khaleda was named for abetting the other accused, while the rest, mostly influential opposition leaders and organisers, were accused either of plotting or of carrying out the arson attack.The BNP leaders named in the charge sheet include its standing committee member MK Anwar, chairperson’s advisers Khandaker Mahbub Hossain and Shawkat Mahmud, joint secretaries general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, Barkat Ullah Bulu and Amanullah Aman, assistant student affairs secretary Sultan Salah Uddin Tuku, central committee member Azizul Bari Helal, Dhaka city BNP member-secretary Habibunnabi Khan Sohel, Swechchhasebak Dal general secretary Mir Sharafat Ali Sapu, Chhatra Dal organising secretary Ishaque Sarkar, chairperson’s special assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, Khaleda’s press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan, BNP’s press wing official Mir Abu Jafar Shamsuddin Didar and former Dhaka city ward commissioners Nabi Ullah Nabi, Abdul Kaiyum and Abdul Latif.

Former BNP lawmaker Salauddin Ahmed, his son Tanvir Rabin and leaders and activists of Jatrabari area were also named for carrying out the arson attack.The official said that 81 people, mostly government employees and victims, were named as prosecution witnesses.The investigator, however, dropped 44 people, including BNP standing committee member Rafiqul Islam Miah and vice-chairman Selima Rahman, from the charge sheet as the investigation had not found enough evidence against them. Selima is the sister of cabinet member Rashed Khan Menon.On January 23, miscreants carried out the arson attack on a Glory Paribahan bus in Katherpol area at Jatrabari, leaving 29 passengers burnt.
Jatrabari police sub-inspector KM Nuruzzaman filed two cases – one under Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act and the other under Special Powers Act – on January 24 against 68 BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and a number of unnamed people for the arson attack.Although Khaleda was not named as an accused in the cases, her name was mentioned in the first information reports, stating that the BNP chief on January 5 had called an indefinite blockade and asked the BNP-led alliance central leaders to enforce the blockade till the ‘fall’ of the government.

The case investigator, subinspector Zahidul Islam, told New Age that charges had been brought against the accused under Sections 15 (3) and 25D of the Special Powers Act, 1974.
Section 15 (3) says that if a person contravenes any of the provisions of this section, he shall be punishable with death, or with [imprisonment for life], or with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to fourteen years, and shall also be liable to fine.Section 25D states that whoever attempts or conspires or makes preparations for committing or abets any offence punishable under the act, shall be punishable with the punishment provided for the offence.The recording officer, subinspector Md Ujir Ali said the charge sheet would be produced in the court of metropolitan magistrate Tarique Moinul Islam Bhuiyan today.On May 6, the investigators submitted two charge sheets – one under the Penal Code and the other under the Explosive Substances Act – in a case that was transformed into a murder case after the death of one of the victims.On her direction, 18 central BNP leaders, named as accused, along with some other leaders of the alliance ordered leaders and activists, overtly and covertly, to carry out subversive acts at places.In accordance with their direction and plan, 32 local BNP and alliance leaders and activists set fire to the running bust at Demra on January 23, the complaints stated.

One of the victims, Nur Alam, 60, died on February 1 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.Following the death, one of the cases was transformed into a murder case.Four accused made confessional statements in the case, the charge sheets mentioned.Khaleda, also former prime minister, already is facing at least five cases filed since she handed over power to a caretaker government in 2006.Of the five, the trials in two graft cases – Shaheed Zia Charitable Trust Case and Zia Orphanage Trust Case – are under trial in a Special Judge’s Court in Dhaka while three others have been stayed by the High Court.At least three more cases were filed after the BNP-led alliance enforced a non-stop blockade from January 5 demanding fresh national elections under a non-party administration.

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