Published : 09 Jan 2025, 05:45 AM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 12:27 PM
A total of 173 leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, including the party’s Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, have been acquitted in a sabotage case.
The case was filed six years ago at the Ramna Police Station in Dhaka.
Judge Shihabul Islam of Dhaka Special Tribunal-16 delivered the verdict on Wednesday.
Other leaders cleared of the charges are BNP Vice Chairman Jainul Abdin Farroque, Health Affairs Secretary Md Rafiqul Islam, Legal Affairs Secretary Kaisar Kamal, Organisational Secretary Shama Obaid, and Joint Secretary General Habib Un Nabi Khan Sohel.
Lawyer Mohiuddin Chowdhury, representing the accused, told bdnews24.com: “The hearing for framing charges was scheduled for Wednesday. However, the court acquitted them as there was no substantial evidence to proceed with the case.”
The case followed a clash between BNP members and police on Jan 30, 2018, when BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was returning home after a hearing at a special court in the old central jail area on Nazimuddin Road.
At the time, BNP leaders and activists were chanting slogans on the road in Shahbagh’s Paribag, before clashing with police.
Later that day, Sub-Inspector Md Mohibullah filed a case at the police station.
After an investigation, a charge sheet was submitted on Jan 29, 2020, by Detective Branch’s, or DB, Ramna Zonal Team Sub-Inspector Mohammad Saiful Islam Khan.
Their acquittal came after prolonged delays in the trial and a mass uprising that led to the fall of the Awami League government.
