Court orders withdrawal of arrest warrants for Tarique Rahman

Staff Reporter :

In the case of the August 21 grenade attack, the tribunal has ordered the withdrawal of the arrest warrants for BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman and 19 other acquitted defendants.

Judge Rafiqul Islam of Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 issued the order following a request from the prosecution on Monday (February 17).

Regarding this matter, the Special Public Prosecutor of the concerned tribunal, Abdur Rashid Mollah, stated, “Tarique Rahman and the other 19 acquitted defendants were absconding.

The court has now ordered the withdrawal of the arrest warrants that were previously issued against them.” He further explained, “When the High Court’s order came to the trial court, we, on behalf of the prosecution, filed a petition to withdraw the arrest warrants for Tarique Rahman and others. Based on that petition, the court has now ordered the withdrawal of the warrants.”

The grenade attack occurred on August 21, 2004, during a rally of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Bangabandhu Avenue. In the case related to the attack, the tribunal delivered its verdict in 2018.

The verdict sentenced 19 individuals, including former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death.

Additionally, BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, Haris Chowdhury, and Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain, along with 19 others, were sentenced to life imprisonment. The tribunal also handed various sentences to 11 other individuals.

After the fall of the Awami League government, on December 1, Justices AKM Asaduzzaman and Syed Enayet Hossain overturned the trial court’s verdict, acquitting all the accused in the case.