A special court in Sylhet indicted 32 accused including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar in Shah AMS Kibria murder case yesterday, more than 10 years after the former finance minister was killed in a grenade attack.
Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Makbul Hossain passed the order after the charge framing hearing.
Twenty-two accused including Babar, sacked Sylhet city mayor Ariful Haque Choudhury and banned militant group Huji leader Mufti Hannan were produced before the court.
The other accused are sacked mayor of Habiganj municipality GK Gaus, Huji leaders Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul, Badrul Alam, Mizan, Mizanur Rahman alias Mitu, Mufti Moin Uddin alias Abu Jandal, Mufti Sheikh Farid, Maulana Abdus Salam, Muhibullah alias Hobi and Ripon.
The other accused now on bail are AKM Abdul Kaiyum, Jamir Ali, Joynal Abedin, Shahed Ali, Ayat Ali, Selim Mia, Joynal alias Momin and Jalal.
The 10 absconding accused are Khaleda Zia’s former political adviser Harris Chowdhury, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Abdul Hye, Hafiz Maulana Ahia, Mohammad Kajal Mia, Mohammad Ali, Bazlur Rahman Alias Bazlu, Maulana Taj Uddin, Mubibur Rahman and Abdul Jalil.
The hearing was deferred nine times due to illness of Ariful. The court yesterday asked the jail authorities to submit Ariful’s health report within 48 hours.
Kibria, technocrat minister of the Awami League government from 1996-2001, and four others were killed and more than 100 people injured in the grenade attack when he was returning to Dhaka after attending a rally in Habiganj on January 27, 2005. Two cases were filed over the incident – one for murder and the other for use of explosives.
