Prosecutors seek death for Zia's son in grenade attack case

The prosecution today demanded death penalty for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia's son for his alleged role in the 2004 grenade attack that killed 24 people and injured 300 others, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a media report said.

Tarique Rahman, the BNP's senior vice president who lives in exile in London, is accused in two cases of murder and blasts for planning the attack in which more than 10 grenades were thrown in a rally organised by Hasina's Awami League party when she was in opposition and Zia was in power.

Among the dead was Ivy Rahman - the wife of late president Zillur Rahman and then Mohila AL president.
 

Chief prosecutor Syed Rezaur Rahman demanded death sentences for Rahman and 48 others, including the then-home minister Lutfozzaman Babar and chiefs of major intelligence agencies while wrapping up the argument at a Speedy Trial Tribunal here, the Daily Star reported.

The state counsel had submitted arguments after observing testimonies from 245 witnesses on December 27. The court had fixed January 1 for the defence and the state to present their arguments.

Justice Shahed Nuruddin adjourned the case till tomorrow when the defence, led by state-appointed lawyer Chitanya Chandra Halder, would present their argument, the report said.

There were 52 accused in the case of which 23, including Babar and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, are behind the bars.

Former Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs) Ashraful Huda, Sahudul Haq and Khoda Boksh Chowdhury, Lt Commander (retd) Saiful Islam Duke, former investigation officers Special Superintendent Ruhul Amin and Senior ASP Munshi Atikur Rahman and ASP Abdur Rashid were among the eight who are out on bail.

While 18 other accused, including Rahman, BNP leader Harish Chaudhary, former lawmaker Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, Major General (retd) A T M Amin, and Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Saiful Islam Joarder are still absconding.

Apart from these, three accused - Jamaat leaders Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Mufti Hannan and his associate Sharif Saidul Alam Bipul have been executed after being convicted in the war crimes and grenade attack cases.