Police formally charge five suspects in court over Sholakia Eid attack

Police have pressed charges in court against five of 23 suspects over a militant attack at Kishoreganj’s Sholakia on the Eid-ul-Fitr day two years ago.

The chargesheets were filed in the Kishoreganj court on Wednesday, according to Kishoreganj Model Police Station's Inspector Arifur Rahman.

The 18 others ‘linked’ to the attack have been killed in operations by security forces and so they have been dropped from the charge sheet, Kishoreganj’s Superintendent of Police Masrukur Rahman Khaled said at a media briefing later in the day.

Five of the suspects are currently in prison, he said.

Those in custody are Jahidul Haque Tanim, Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi,  Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan, Anowar Hossain, and Sabur Khan Hasan.

On the Eid-ul-Fitr morning of July 7, 2016, a police check-post near the Sholakia Eidgah ground, which hosts the country’s largest Eid congregation, came under a terrorist attack.

Four people, including two policemen, were killed in bomb blasts and a firefight that left 11 people including eight policemen and three bystanders seriously injured.

Three days after the attack, on July 10, a case was started at the Kishoreganj Model Police Station against the unidentified accused, including two persons detained from the spot.

Pakundia Police Station’s Inspector (investigation) Mohammad Samshuddin started the case.