The High Court has granted bail to two former Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) in the August 21 grenade attack case.
The two suspects, Shahudul Haque and Ashraful Huda, have received bail for six months.
The High Court bench of Justice Sheikh Abdul Awal and Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty accepted the appeal petitions of former IGPs Shahudul Haque and Ashraful Huda and passed the order on Monday, reports UNB.
Lawyers Arshadur Rauf and Jamilur Rahman represented the defendants at the hearing; while Assistant Attorney General Md Ali Zinnah represented the state.
Previously, on January 13, the High Court accepted the appeals of 44 convicts, including 18 condemned individuals, for a hearing in the August 21 grenade attack case.
On October 10, a speedy trial tribunal sentenced 19 people, including former State Minister for Home Lutfozzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister for Education Abdus Salam Pintu, to death; while 19 others, including BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, were sentenced to life imprisonment in two cases filed over the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in the capital in 2004.
Additionally, 11 people were awarded different jail terms in the sensational cases.
Among the convicts, former Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) Ashraful Huda and Shahudul Haque were sentenced to four years jail; and fined Tk50,000 for harbouring the offenders under two separate sections of the case.
The attack on August 21, 2004, was carried out on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue during the BNP-Jamaat regime.
The then-leader of the opposition Sheikh Hasina was the leading speaker at the rally.
She was stepping off a truck, which was being used as a dais, when the assailants hurled the grenades toward the rally.
Among the 24 people killed in the blasts was Bangladesh Mohila Awami League President Ivy Rahman, the wife of senior Awami League leader Zillur Rahman; who was later to be elected the country’s president.
