3 ex-CID bosses, Huji leader appeal for discharge
Three former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials and a Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) leader yesterday appealed to a Dhaka court to discharge them from the August 21 grenade attack case.
The petitioners are former assistant superintendents of police Munshi Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid, former special police super Ruhul Amin, who also investigated the grenade attack case and Huji leader Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid.
According to the prosecution, during the BNP-led four-party alliance rule, the then CID investigators tried to mislead the probe to save the real culprits.
They falsely implicated one Joj Miah and forced him to give a confessional statement to a magistrate implicating other top listed criminals.
The accused submitted the discharge petitions before the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 when it resumed the hearing on charge framing against 52 accused including BNP Senior Vice-chairman Tarique Rahman.
Earlier on the day, the counsel for former director general of National Security Intelligence Maj Gen (retd) Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury completed his argument on a discharge petition.
With this, a total of 21 accused including Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Lt Commander (retd) Saiful Islam Duke have so far appealed to the court to be discharged from the cases.
Twenty-four people including Awami League (AL) leader Ivy Rahman were killed and around 200 others injured in the grisly grenade attack on an AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004.
Judge Shahed Nuruddin fixed December 19 for the next hearing.
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