Sunday, May 13, 2012

Fakhrul, others ordered to surrender

A third High Court bench that the opposition leaders had approached for anticipatory bail on Sunday ordered them to surrender in the trial court by May 16.  BNP's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other leaders of the opposition alliance are facing charges of involvement in the torching of a bus and explosion of bombs in front of the Prime Minister's Office during the Apr 29 shutdown.

Besides the one filed over arson at Tejgaon Police Station, BNP-led 18-Party Alliance leaders were also accused in a case filed with Shahbagh Police Station for hurling crude bombs at the Secretariat. The Chief Justice constituted the third single-judge bench to settle the issue after another bench had returned a split verdict on the petitions but asked police not to 'harass' the opposition leaders for seven days.

The bench of Justice Mohammad Anwar-Ul Haque heard the petitions on Sunday afternoon. Earlier, the High Court bench of justices Mainul Islam Chowdhury and Nazrul Islam Talukder gave a split decision on the petition and the matter went to the Chief Justice's office.

Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain on May 10 formed the third bench to hear the bail petitions of the leaders.  Police last Thursday pressed charges against the accused leaders in two cases filed for violence during the countrywide general strike on Apr 29 demanding 'release' of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali.

The Dhaka metropolitan speedy trial tribunal judge Erfan Ullah has fixed May 21 for hearing the counsels as a Detective Branch investigator had sought arrest warrants for the opposition leaders in connection with the cases. The third High Court bench will hear on Monday the petition for anticipatory bail in the Secretariat bomb blast case.  

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