A Dhaka court has issued an arrest warrant against BNP Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka in a sedition case filed for urging his party men to stage demonstration in the capital with machetes and axes.
After accepting a charge sheet against Khoka, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Kamrul Hossain Molla issued the warrant against the former Dhaka City Corporation mayor Monday.
Khoka was due to appear before the court regarding the case's hearing on Monday as his bail period expired, but he did not make an appearance, which is why the court issued the warrant, sources said.
Read more: Goyeshwar, Khoka face arrest warrant
The court also directed Paltan police station's OC to submit report on the execution of the arrest warrant before the court by January 11 next year.
Inspector Tofail Ahmed of Paltan police station submitted the charge sheet against Khoka before Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on November 29 last year.
The sedition case was filed on December 7, 2013 by Sub-Inspector Md Shahidullah Pradhan of the same police station.
According to the charge sheet, Khoka, currently in the US for medical treatment, directed his party leaders and activists to demonstrate with machetes and axes in Dhaka during a meeting at Bhashani auditorium in the capital on October 14, 2013.
He said: “If the Awami League carries anything to kill people, we have to face them at any cost. They should not be spared.”
On October 20 this year, Khoka was sentenced, in absentia, to 13 years of prison in a case filed against him for amassing wealth illegally and concealing information from the Anti-Corruption Commission.
