Court Correspondent :
A Dhaka court yesterday (Thursday) framed charges against 13 leaders of the banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji), including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, on the charge of operating a bomb attack on a CPB rally in the capital on January 20, 2001.
Judge Imrul Kayes of Dhaka’s Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court framed the charges in presence of five accused, produced to the court from the jail. The accused, however, pleaded innocence and not guilty. They demanded justice.
On November 27, 2013, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police submitted charge sheets against the accused in two cases. Of them, one case was filed for killing and another one under the Explosive Substances Act.
The accused are Mainuddin Sheikh alias Abu Zandal, Arif Hasan Sumon, Maulana Sabbir Hossain, Shawkat Osman, Moshiur Rahman, Maulana Abdul Hye, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman,
Jahangir Alam Badar, Nurul Islam, Mohibul Muktakim, Anisul Mursalin and
Rafiqul Alam Miraj. Of the remaining accused, seven are on the run from the beginning and one of the accused went into hiding after obtaining bail from the court.
Five people were killed and 52 others injured in the attack. The bombs were hurled into a rally of the Communist Party of Bangladesh held at the Paltan Maidan on the day.
The then CPB President Manzurul Ahsan Khan filed a case in connection with the incident.
