Plot to kill Sheikh Hasina: Death row convict arrested after 21 years

Police have arrested a fugitive death row convict in a case filed over the attempt to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2000.

Azizul Haque Rana alias Shahnewaz alias Ruman was arrested from Khilkhet Bazar in the capital on Tuesday.

Police also recovered two jihadi books, two mobile phones, a pen drive and a computer hard disk from his possession.

Police recovered a 76kg bomb in front of a shop adjacent to Sheikh Lutfur Rahman Govt High School on July 20, 2000 where Sheikh Hasina was supposed to address a rally on July 22.

Another 40kg bomb was recovered by an army bomb expert squad from near Kotalipara helipad on July 23, 2000.

Three separate cases were filed in this connection.

On March 23, 2021, a Dhaka tribunal sentenced 14 people to death in a sedition case filed over the murder attempt on Sheikh Hasina in Kotalipara of Gopalganj in 2000.

Mohammad Azizul Haque alias Shah Newaz was among the convicts.

Azizul had been tasked with planting bombs, said police after interrogation.

After primary interrogation, police came to know that Azizul, who had been on the run for 21 years, had continued his activities in secret. 

He worked as shopkeeper, bookseller, driver and printing press worker to hide his identity.