Court to charge BNP chief Khaleda, 37 others over Jatrabarhi bus firebombing on Jul 18

A Dhaka court has fixed Jul 18 to frame charges against Khaleda Zia and 37 others in a case over the firebombing of a bus at Jatrabarhi.

The incident left one dead amid the BNP’s nationwide transport blockade in January last year.

Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 judge Kamrul Hasan Molla on Sunday set the date and sent the case to Metropolitan Special Tribunal-2 for next hearing, her lawyer Joynal Abedin Mesbah said.

“The judge granted her plea for more time filed as she could not appear before the court and fixed the new date,” he told bdnews24.com.

On Mar 30, another Dhaka court issued arrest warrants for the former prime minister and 27 others after accepting the chargesheet in the case initiated under the Special Powers Act.

File photo

Khaleda had later surrendered before the court and secured bail.

In January last year, the BNP chief, after a failed anti-government rally, had called a nonstop countrywide transport blockade that continued for three months.

On Jan 23, at least 30 people were burnt when a bus was attacked at Jatrabarhi’s Katherpool. One of them succumbed to his injuries several days later.

Jatrabarhi police then started two cases over the incident – one for murder charges and the other under the Special Powers Act, which states Khaleda as the ‘instigator’ of the attack.

Police submitted the chargesheets in the cases in May last year against her and 37 others.