Court defers indictment of Khaleda Zia in the Cumilla murder case

A Cumilla court has deferred the indictment and bail petition hearing of BNP Chief Khaleda Zia in two cases over the 2015 petrol bombing of a bus in Chauddagram in 2015.

Cumilla Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 7 Jan 2019, 12:06 PM
Updated : 7 Jan 2019, 12:06 PM

The hearing has been scheduled for Jan 16.

Eight people were killed and 27 injured when petrol bombs were hurled at Icon Paribahan in Chauddagram on Feb 3, 2015 during a strike called by the BNP-Jamaat alliance.

Cumilla Additional District and Sessions Judge Habibur Rahman issued the order on Monday.

Public Prosecutor Md Mostafizur Rahman Liton said, "There was no hearing on the indictment and the bail petition due to the vacancies left by retirements in the position of Cumilla District and Sessions Judge.”

SI Nuruzzaman Hawladar filed two separate cases at the Chauddagram police station over the incident, one for murder and another under the Explosives Act.

Chauddagram Police Station SI Md Ibrahim filed a charge sheet with the court after investigating the cases for two years and one month.

Khaleda Zia has been ordered to appear in the court. She has been shown arrested in both cases.

Khaleda Zia has been in prison since February, 2018.

She has been sentenced to 17 years in prison in the Zia Orphanage and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases. She is serving the sentences at the old central jail on Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka.

Khaleda Zia was not allowed to contest the 11th parliamentary election. Her party, the BNP, lost by a landslide in the Dec 30 national election.