Khaleda, 77 others charged in Comilla violence case

Police have pressed charges against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 77 others for the deaths of eight people in a petrol bomb attack on a bus in Comilla during the anti-government movement in 2015. Chauddagram police's Sub-Inspector Md Ibrahim Molla submitted two charge sheets to the general recording section of the Chauddagram court Monday, OC Abu Foysal confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune Monday. At least eight people were killed and 20 others injured when unidentified miscreants hurled molotov cocktails at a bus of Icon Paribahan near Jogmohonpur of Chauddagram on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway during the blockade enforced by the BNP-Jamaat alliance on February 3, 2015. Police filed two cases against 56 people, including former Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Abdullah Mohammad Tareq and 15-20 other unnamed persons – one for murder (under the Penal Code) and the other for use of explosives (under the Special Powers Act). Khaleda and five other senior BNP leaders were accused of masterminding the attack to destablise the government through violent activities. The five others are barrister Rafiqul Islam Mia, MK Anwar, Rizvi Ahmed, Salahuddin Ahmed and Shawkat Mahmud. Police later added the names of 22 others including BNP chief's Adviser Monirul Huq Chowdhury. Two accused died during the investigation while the names of four others have been dropped as their involvement in the attack could not be proved, police said.