Blasts Before Hasina's Railly

Sylhet court defers date for deposition of PWs to Oct 6

6 September 2009, 17:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Sylhet.

A special tribunal here yesterday could not record depositions of prosecution witnesses (PW) in the case for bomb blast that occurred hours before Sheikh Hasina's election rally at Sylhet Government Alia Madrasa maidan on September 26, 2001, as only one out of six accused was produced in the court. Judge Belayet Ullah fixed October 6 for recording statements of the prosecution witnesses (PWs) in the case, court sources said. The then officer-in- charge of Sylhet Kotwali Police Station Abu Al Khair Matabbar filed the case after the blast that took place at the house of physician-cum-businessman Dr Arif Ahmed Momtaz Rifa in the city's Fajil Chist area. Three people were killed in the blast. OC Abu Al Khair Matubbar, also the complainant of the case, and Abdus Shahid Chowdhury, an employee of a business firm, gave their statements before the court on August 5. The accused in the case are Mufti Abdul Hannan, Masum Ahmed Shakil, Sheikh Shahjahan, Abu Obaida and Maulana Abu Sayeed and Dr Arif Ahmed Momtaj Rifa. The incident took place when some people were making bomb at the house. One of the injured, Masum Ahmed Shakil, was however, caught by pedestrians after the incident.