Convict in case over attack on train carrying Sheikh Hasina arrested

Court Correspondent :
The Rapid Action Battalion arrested a fugitive who was sentenced to death in a case filed on charge of armed attack on a train carrying Sheikh Hasina in Pabna 25 years ago.
Fugitive Zakaria Pintu, who has been facing a warrant for his arrest, was apprehended in Cox’s Bazar on Saturday, disclosed ASP ANM Imran Khan, Assistant Director of RAB media wing.
Pintu has been convicted of several crimes, including possession of illegal arms, Imran said on Sunday. Further details on the matter will be revealed at a media briefing later.
Pintu, former General Secretary of the BNP Ishwardi unit, has been on the run from the outset.
Eight others were awarded death penalty in the attempt to murder case while 25 were imprisoned for life.
Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader, was conducting a nationwide campaign by rail when her coach came under attack upon arriving in Pabna’s Ishwardi on September 23, 1994.
But the Awami League chief managed to survive the assault carried out during her BNP counterpart Khaleda Zia’s first term as the Prime Minister of the country.
The railway police, as complainant initiated the case against 135 people in connection with the incident.
The investigation hit a snag during the BNP rule but picked up speed once the Awami League formed the government in 1996.
Later, Police pressed charge against 52 people, including Pintu and Moklesur Rahman Bablu, former mayor of Ishwardi Municipality, at the end of the investigation.