2002 attack on Hasina motorcade: HC grants bail to seven convicted
The court has set 30 May to deliver its decision on bail pleas filed by 11 others convicted in the case
The High Court (HC) has granted four months bail to seven persons convicted in a case filed for the attack on then-opposition leader Sheikh Hasina's motorcade in Satkhira in 2002.
The HC bench of Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Iqbal Kabir granted the bail on Tuesday.
The court also issued a rule and asked the lower court to dispose of the appeal within this period.
Advocate Abdus Sattar, former general secretary of the Satkhira District Bar Association, is one of the seven people who got bail. He was convicted in the case by the lower court.
The six others who got bail are Golam Rasul, Abdus Samad, Zahirul Islam, Rakib, Shahabuddin, and Monirul Islam.
The court has set Sunday (30 May) for delivering its decision on the bail petition filed by 11 others convicted in the case.
However, the names of the seven persons who got bail were not in the FIR of the case, the lawyers said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's motorcade was attacked on 30 August 2002 in front of the Kalaroa Upazila BNP office in Satkhira, when the BNP-led four party alliance government was in power.
Sheikh Hasina was on her way to Magura after visiting a rape victim and wife of a freedom fighter at Satkhira Sadar Hospital.
When her motorcade reached the Kalaroa Upazila BNP office area, a group of terrorists attacked with machetes, bombs, and firearms.
Several people, including former MP Mujibur Rahman, were injured when the terrorists fired on the convoy and detonated bombs.
On the same day, Kalaroa Upazila Freedom Fighter, Commander Moslem Uddin, filed a case.
Upon investigating the case, police filed a charge sheet against 50 people, including against then BNP MP, Habibul Islam.
The charges against the accused say the attack aimed to assassinate Sheikh Hasina.
In dealing with the three separate charge sheets filed under the attempted murder, explosives, and firearms acts, the lower court on 4 February, gave the verdict for the attempted murder case.
In that verdict, all the 50 accused were sentenced to different jail terms.
Among them, BNP leader Habibul Islam Habib, then an MP from the Satkhira-1 constituency, and BNP activists Arifur Rahman and Ripon, were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The court also sentenced Abdul Quader Bachchu, former general secretary of Kalaroa Upazila Juba Dal, to nine years in prison, and the remaining 46 to imprisonment, ranging from four to six years.
