A Dhaka court has fixed August 20 for delivering the verdict in the much-talk-about case filed over the attempted murder of Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2000.
Judge Momtaz Begum of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal 2 passed the order as the hearing on arguments from the prosecution and defence ended on Thursday.
Special Public Prosecutor Md Shamsul Islam Badal placed his arguments on the state's behalf while Faruk Ahamed represented the defence.
The accused in the case are Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and his accomplices – Md Mohibullah, Munshi Ibrahim, Md Mahmud Azhar, Md Rashed Driver, Md Shah Neaz, Md Yousuf, Md Lokman, Sheikh Enamul and Md Mizanur Rahman.
Among the accused, Mufti Abdul Hannan was hanged on April 12 over the grenade attack on former British envoy Anwar Choudhury in Sylhet.
A total of 89 out of 64 prosecution witnesses testified before the court in the case.
The case dockets say police on July 20, 2000, seized 76kg of explosives planted near Kotalipara Sheikh Lutfar Rahman Ideal Government College where Sheikh Hasina, who was prime minister then, was scheduled to address a rally two days later.
In this connection, Kotalipara police filed a case under the Explosive Substances Act, and later pressed charges against 16 people on April 8, 2001.
A supplementary charge sheet was filed on June 29, 2009 when the Awami League came to power again, accusing nine more people in the case.
A Gopalganj court recorded the depositions of 43 witnesses out of a total of 89, but the case was transferred to the speedy trial tribunal in Dhaka in September 2010 for expedited trial.
Following the development, the speedy tribunal started recording depositions again.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
