Warrant issued for Khaleda Zia in 2015 Comilla arson attack case

A Comilla court has issued warrants for the arrest of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and other absconding suspects over a 2015 case involving the deaths of eight people in an arson attack in Chauddagram.

The order was issued by the Comilla District and Sessions Judge’s court after police submitted a chargesheet against 78 people in the case, said Public Prosecutor Mostafizur Rahman Liton.

“The court has issued arrest warrants against Khaleda Zia and the other absconding suspects. The court will set the date for the next hearing at a later date.”

Khaleda called a nationwide blockade after a BNP rally on Jan 5, 2015, the first anniversary of the tenth parliamentary elections, was obstructed.

The BNP also announced a 90-day general strike. Numerous cars and structures were burned in the violence and over 100 died in arson attacks.

Police filed cases on numerous such incidents, some of which accused Khaleda of inciting violence. The Chauddagram case is one of them.

In 2015, an Icon Transport bus headed from Cox’s Bazar to Dhaka was petrol-bombed on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in Chauddagram during a BNP mass protest. Eight passengers died after the bus caught fire.

Chauddagram Police Station SI Nuruzzaman Howladar accused a total of 56 BNP-Jamaat activists and 15-20 unidentified individuals in a murder case and an Explosives Act case over the incident. Khaleda was accused of inciting violence.

Police submitted a chargesheet to the Comilla Senior Judicial Magistrate’s court on Mar 6.

BNP Standing Committee members Rafiqul Islam Miah, MK Anwar, Vice Chairman Shawkat Mahmud, Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed and former Jamaat MP Syed Abdullah Md Taher are also accused in the case.

BNP, Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal activists have held protest marches over the arrest warrant against Khaleda.