BNP leaders walk free as HC acquits all in 1994 train attack case
Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
The High Court has acquitted all BNP leaders, including those previously sentenced to death, in the case related to the 1994 assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ishwardi Railway Station.
A bench comprising Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Hamidur Rahman delivered the verdict on Wednesday (February 5).
The case was heard by defense lawyers Kaiser Kamal, Md. Maqsood Ullah, Jamil Akhter Elahi, and AHM Kamruzzaman Mamun, while Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Mujibur Rahman represented the state. After hearing arguments on the death reference, appeal, and jail appeal on January 30, the High Court had set February 5 for the final verdict.
On September 23, 1994, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was traveling from Khulna to Saidpur by train to attend a party program in the northern region. As her train entered Ishwardi Railway Junction Station, assailants opened fire and hurled bombs at it. Following the attack, Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nazrul Islam of Ishwardi GRP (Railway Police) Station filed a case.
Initially, seven individuals, including the then Chhatra Dal leader and Ishwardi Municipal BNP General Secretary (suspended committee) Zakaria Pintu, were charged. The police submitted the final charge sheet the following year, but the court rejected it and ordered the CID to conduct further investigations.
After the Awami League came to power in 1996, the case was revived. On April 3, 1997, police submitted a new charge sheet, implicating 52 individuals, including leaders and activists from BNP, Jubo Dal, and Chhatra Dal.
On July 3, 2019, a special tribunal led by Additional District and Sessions Judge Md. Rustam Ali sentenced nine people to death, 25 to life imprisonment, and 13 others to 10 years in prison. All the convicts were associated with BNP, Chhatra Dal, and Jubo Dal
Those sentenced to death included, Moklesur Rahman alias Bablu, BNP Central Executive Committee member and former municipal chairman, Zakaria Pintu, General Secretary of Ishwardi Municipal BNP (suspended committee), KM Akhtaruzzaman, district BNP leader, Mahbubur Rahman Palash, former Chhatra Dal leader of Rajshahi University, Azizur Rahman Shaheen, Volunteer Party leader, Rezaul Karim Shahin, former Chhatra Dal leader, Noor Mostafa Shymal, Ishwardi Municipal Jubo Dal President, Shamsul Alam, BNP leader and former commissioner, Md. Atal, BNP leader
Following the High Court’s verdict, all BNP leaders and activists involved in the case have been acquitted.