Decision on charges on January 28

A Dhaka court will now decide on January 28 whether to accept the charges brought against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 37 others in two cases filed over an arson attack on a passenger bus.

The arson was carried out on the bus by throwing a petrol bomb in the capital's Jatrabari on the night of January 23 this year. Thirty-one persons suffered burns in the attack and later one of them died.

In yesterday's order, Metropolitan Magistrate Md Maruf Hossain could not scrutinise the case dockets and other relevant documents as he dealt with other cases pending with his court, said sources.  

Detectives in May pressed murder and sabotage charges against the accused in the cases filed with Jatrabari Police Station. According to the charge sheets, Khaleda masterminded the attack. In the First Information Report (FIR), Khaleda was not named as an accused. But the FIR mentioned that the attack was carried out on her instructions. 

The charge sheets showed Khaleda and 30 others as fugitives as they are not on bail in the cases. Three others, including BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, are now on bail while the remaining four are in jail.