Top court rejects bail pleas of 2 policemen over 21st August grenade attack  

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today today rejected the bail petitions of two former police officers, who were convicted in the 21st August grenade attack case.

An Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, turned down the plea of former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Khan Saeed Hasan and former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Deputy Commissioner Obaidur Rahman Khan.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin appeared for the state, while lawyers Arshadur Rauf and Jamilur Rahman represented the accused former police officials during the proceedings.

Earlier, the court sentenced Saeed Hasan and Obaidur Rahman to four-year imprisonment under two sections.

Following the judgment, they had appealed to the High Court against the verdict and their petition was denied by the court on 9 March.

Later, they moved to the Appellate Division seeking bail against the High Court order, which came up for hearing today.

On 28 January in 2019, Saeed and Obaidur surrendered before the court. They have been in jail ever since.  

The attack on August 21 in 2004 killed 24 people, including the then president of Bangladesh Mohila Awami League and late President Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman, and injured over 500 others.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then the opposition leader, narrowly escaped death, but did receive severe injuries.

On 10 October in 2018, a Dhaka court sentenced 19 people to death, including Lutfozzaman Babar, former state minister for home, for involvement in the attack.

Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and 18 others were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the incident.