A Sylhet court has deferred framing charges in the case filed over the killing of former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria for the third time.
The hearing will now be held on August 3.
Kishore Kumar Kar, public prosecutor of the Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal, told the Dhaka Tribune that the tribunal Thursday adjourned the charge framing hearing as suspended Sylhet mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury – one of the charge-sheeted accused – was not produced before the court.
However, other accused men including former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar and Huji chief Mufti Hannan were produced in front of the tribunal Judge Makbul Ahsan, said sources at the court.
The tribunal set August 3 as the new date after the counsel for Ariful Haque Chowdhury submitted a time petition before the judge.
Mohammad Lala, Ariful's lawyer, said the suspended Sylhet mayor could not appear before the court as he was undergoing medical treatment.
On December 21 last year, the Criminal Investigation Department’s Senior ASP Meherunnesa Parul submitted a complementary charge sheet to court, accusing 35 people in the case.
The new names in the complementary charge sheet included the BNP chief's former adviser Harris Chowdhury, Ariful Haque Chowdhury, and Habiganj municipality mayor GK Gaus – who was also later suspended.
On January 27, 2005, Shah AMS Kibria, technocrat finance minister of the Awami League government from 1996-2001, was killed in a grenade attack when was returning to Dhaka after attending a rally in Habiganj. Four others were killed and more than a hundred people were also injured in that gruesome attack.