The High Court has acquitted all convicted individuals, including nine sentenced to death, in a case filed over an attack on a train carrying then-opposition leader Sheikh Hasina in Ishwardi, Pabna, in 1994.
The bench of Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Md Hamidur Rahman delivered the verdict on Wednesday.
Barrister Kaisar Kamal represented the defendants in court, assisted by Advocate Mahbubur Rahman Khan and Advocate Maksud Ullah.
The case originated from the attack on September 23, 1994, when Hasina was travelling from Khulna to Saidpur via the Rupsha Express.
Although she was scheduled to address a public gathering along the way, it was alleged in the case that BNP leader Zakaria Pintoo, along with other accused individuals, orchestrated an armed attack with firearms and explosives on the train near Ishwardi Railway Station with the intent to assassinate her.
Following the attack, Nazrul Islam, then officer-in-charge of Ishwardi GRP police station, filed a case on the same day.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) subsequently took charge of the investigation and submitted a charge sheet against 52 individuals on April 3, 1997.
Five of the accused later passed away and were subsequently excluded from the trial proceedings.
On July 3, 2019, a court sentenced Zakaria Pintoo and eight others to death, while 25 individuals received life imprisonment and 13 others were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The death penalty cases were automatically referred to the High Court for review, while the convicts also filed appeals seeking acquittal.
With the High Court's ruling, all defendants in the case are now exonerated.