NN Online:
The High Court has scheduled May 8 to deliver its verdict in the long-running case over the 2001 bomb attack on the Bengali New Year celebration at Dhaka’s Ramna Batamul.
The decision was made by the bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter on Wednesday, following the case’s inclusion in the day’s cause list. The court had kept the matter under consideration since February 18, after hearing death references and appeals from the convicts.
The deadly blast during Chhayanaut’s Pohela Boishakh event killed 10 people and injured dozens. Investigators later identified the attack as an attempt by militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) to undermine Bangladesh’s secular cultural traditions.
On April 14, 2001, Sgt Amal Chandra Chanda filed two cases—one for murder and another under the Explosives Act—at Ramna Police Station. Nearly eight years later, in November 2008, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted a chargesheet against 14 accused.
On June 23, 2014, a Dhaka court sentenced eight, including HuJI chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, to death. Six others received life imprisonment.
Those sentenced to death include Mufti Hannan, Akbar Hossain, Arif Hasan Sumon, Md Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar, Abu Bakar alias Hafez Selim Howlader, Abdul Hai, and Shafiqur Rahman.
Shahadatullah Jewel, Sabbir, Sheikh Farid, Abdur Rouf, Yahya, and Abu Taher were handed life sentences.
The state was represented by Deputy Attorney General Sultana Akhter and Assistant Attorney General Md Asif Imran, while lawyers SM Shahjahan, Sarwar Ahmed, and Md Shishir Manir argued for the defence.
