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Bangladesh

Tale of an unending trial

2015-08-21

[Dhaka Tribune] Two years ago, on the ninth anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack, the persecution said they were hopeful that trial would end before the Awami League government completed its tenure. Until then, the court recorded the depositions of only 72 out of the 491 prosecution witnesses. Over the next one year, only 26 more witnesses testified. Last year, on the tenth anniversary of that deadly attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka, the prosecution again hoped that trial would end before the next anniversary, that is today. In the last one year, the court recorded the statements of another 78 witnesses, taking the tally to 176 since the trial began in 2008. Pro-Awami League lawyer and former Dhaka Bar president Kazi Nazibullah Hiru told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: "The slow pace of the trial has angered the victims and their families. Even the prime minister is astonished at the slow pace of the trial." He also said: "There is no need to make all the witnesses testify. The testimonies of more than 100 witnesses are enough to prove the charges against the accused as many video clips are also available as evidence." At least 24 people, including Awami League's women affairs secretary Ivy Rahman, wife of late president Zillur Rahman, were killed and 300 others injured in the grenade attack. About a dozen grenades were went kaboom! when the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. , now prime minister then opposition leader, was about to finish her speech at the anti-terrorism rally in front of the Awami League's central office. She escaped a close call and has since been living with hearing impairment. The other victims -- many of whom have been crippled for life by grenade splinters -- and their families have now been waiting for more than a decade now, hoping to see the trial end and the perpetrators get punished. The slow pace at which the case had been moving along has only added to their ever mounting frustration. Awami League leader M Ata Ullah, a victim, testified before the court seeking exemplary punishment for the attackers. He was present at the rally on that day.

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Bangladesh

Cop testifies in Aug 21 attack case

2013-08-06

[Bangla Daily Star] One more prosecution witness yesterday testified before a Dhaka court that HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. leader Moulana Tajuddin used to visit the residence of his brother Abdus Salam Pintu, former deputy minister of the immediate past BNP government. Earlier, on Sunday, another prosecution witness gave an identical statement before the same court. Both Pintu and Tajuddin are accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases. Pintu was tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! earlier and he is now in jail custody, while Tajuddin is a runaway accused in the cases. In his deposition before the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 yesterday, Constable Al Mamun said he was deployed at Pintu's Dhanmondi government residence as a security guard form July 23, 2002 to July 6, 2004. Tajuddin used to visit Pintu's residence with some of his accomplices, Mamun said. "We did not obstruct him (Tajuddin) from visiting the residence as Pintu did not give any direction to us in this regard," Mamun added. The witness further said from newspapers, television and people he later came to know that Tajuddin along with Harkatul Jihad al Islami leader chief Mufti Abdul Mannan were involved in Death Eater activities. Mamun was later cross-examined by the lawyers of 28 accused. Cross-examination of the witness will be continued till August 18. A grenade attack was carried out on August 21, 2004 when the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. , now prime minister, was addressing a party rally at the Bangabandhu Avenue. Hasina narrowly escaped death ending up with an ear injury. But 24 leaders and activists of her party were killed, including late President Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman, and 300 others injured.

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Bangladesh

Mufti Hannan revealed Hawa Bhaban plot

2013-02-04

[Bangla Daily Star] HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. leader Mufti Abdul Hannan in his 2011 confessional statement named some intelligence and political bigwigs, including Khaleda Zia's Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... son Tarique Rahman ...the elder son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, and Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is the Senior Vice Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His nickname is Pino. There are allegations that Pino took a rakeoff from every foreign investment into the country while Mom was in office... , as criminal masterminds of the August 21 grenade assault launched to assassinate Sheikh Hasina. ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan, the then additional chief metropolitan magistrate who had recorded the statement, told a Dhaka court about its content yesterday. Hannan, chief of banned hard boy outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), was in the dock while Habibur, now an additional Dhaka judge, was giving his testimony on recording the confessional statement. The Daily Star has obtained a copy of Hannan's statement. The HuJI leader had also narrated some conspiratorial meetings to assassinate Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader. He was present at the meeting along with some influential leaders and ministers of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , HuJI leaders and top intelligence officials. Tarique, then senior joint secretary general of BNP, assigned two party leaders -- state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu -- to provide all out assistance to the HuJI men to carry out the attack. Tarique, elder son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is now the party's senior vice chairman. "Before the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004, I along with several other HuJI leaders went to Hawa Bhaban," Hannan said in the statement. Hawa Bhaban was the political office of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. There, the hard boy leader said, he found Tarique, Abul Harris Chowdhury, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, Abdus Salam Pintu, BNP politician Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed. Brigadier General Abdur Rahim, then director general of National Security Intelligence (NSI), and Brigadier General Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, then director general of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), were also present. "I informed them about the plan of grenade attack on Awami League rally, which was to be addressed by Sheikh Hasina, and sought their assistance." Tarique then assured them of full support and told them to communicate with Babar and Pintu for administrative assistance, the statement read. Hannan began his statement saying that AL was defeated in 2001 general election and BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami formed the government. His organization tried to strengthen its relation with BNP. HuJI ameer Moulana Abdus Salam, Sheikh Farid, Moulana Yahiya, Abu Bakar and Jahangir Badar contacted BNP politicians Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Kaikobad. The two leaders arranged High Court bails for 41 HuJI men tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! in Dhankhali in 1996. Hannan said the HuJI's communication with the BNP leaders continued and the outfit kept receiving assistance from them. Towards the end of 2003, Abdus Salam Farid, Moulana Tajuddin, brother of BVNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, met Babar at his government residence on Bailey Road in the capital. There GK Gaus, Ariful Islam, former DCC ward councillor; Yahiya and Abu Bakar, were also present there. Babar told Gaus and Arif about the task of Sylhet and ordered them to do the work locally. In Sylhet, local BNP men and HuJI men went kaboom! grenades. At the court yesterday, Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan said around 3:00pm on April 7 of 2011 jail police produced Mufti Hannan at his chamber for recording confessional statement. Hannan was given three hours to make up his mind. Judge Shahed Nuruddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 recorded Habibur's statement for half an hour yesterday. Later, barrister Fakhrul Islam, a counsel for Mufti Hannan, cross-examined him. The defence will again cross-examine Habibur today as the court adjourned the trial proceedings for yesterday. Syed Rezaur Rahman, chief counsel for the August 21 grenade attack cases, stood for the state. The August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally killed Ivy Rahman, wife of President Zillur Rahman, along with 23 others and maimed over 300 people. Sheikh Hasina, now prime minister, narrowly escaped death and suffered ear injuries.

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Bangladesh

Ex-NSI chief in the dock

2013-01-14

[Bangla Daily Star] A few days before the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, the then NSI boss Abdur Rahim visited Hawa Bhaban, the alterative powerhouse of the previous BNP-led government, while he was receiving treatment in a military hospital in Dhaka. Yousuf Hossain, a National Security Intelligence (NSI) official, yesterday said this in his testimony to a Dhaka court as a prosecution witness against his former boss Brig Gen (retired) Rahim in two cases filed in connection with the grenade attack. Rahim, who stood in the dock during the testimony, looked angrily at Yousuf. Rahim was the NSI director general when the grenade attack was made on an AL rally on August 21, 2004 to assassinate Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... , the then leader of the opposition. Yousuf, who was a field officer of NSI, is now an assistant director of the organization. Rahim had been admitted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka cantonment with piles on August 12, nine days before the grenade attack. And Yousuf was one of the three NSI officials responsible for taking care of their boss by turns. "The DG sir [Abdur Rahim] went to Hawa Bhaban a day between August 12 and 21 in 2004 while receiving treatment at the Combined Military Hospital," said Yousuf in his deposition as the 66th prosecution witness of the cases before Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal. The then NSI chief returned to the hospital from Hawa Bhaban and received treatment there till August 25. Soon after the grenade attack on an AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue, Yousuf learnt about it over his walkie-talkie. He was told that AL leader Ivy Rahman and many other activists were killed in the attack. Yousuf then conveyed the message to then NSI chief Rahim. "DG sir then asked me who were the other leaders that got killed?" Yousuf told the court. When Yousuf informed his boss about the attack, Rahim specifically wanted to know what happened to Sheikh Hasina, the NSI official said at the court. In reply, Yousuf told him that Hasina narrowly escaped death, but she sustained injuries to her left ear. A few hours later, at around 7:00pm, two journalists went to Rahim's cabin in the hospital. The then director of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Brig Gen Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury was also in the cabin at that time, said Yousuf who was outside Rahim's cabin. Yousuf said the two journalists left Rahim's cabin after 15 minutes. "When they [two journalists] were coming out of the cabin, I heard them discussing that the grenade attack had been carried out following a feud between Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Selim, and such news would not be acceptable to public at all," said Yousuf. After an hour, Rezzakul left the cabin, said Yousuf. The NSI official told the court that he took care of Rahim for three more days after the August 21 attack. Judge Shahed Nuruddin recorded Yousuf's statement and fixed today for his cross-examination by defence. Twenty-four people, including Ivy Rahman, wife of President Zillur Rahman, were killed and hundreds of party activists and leaders were maimed in the grenade attack at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. Two cases -- one under the explosive substances act and the other for killing -- were filed in connection with the incident.

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Bangladesh

Aug 21 culprits must be tried

2012-08-23

[Bangla Daily Star] Accusing the previous BNP-Jamaat coalition government of being behind the 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... has reiterated that those who conspired, criminal masterminded and executed the attack would be brought to book. No one can escape punishment the way the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members did in 1975, she said on Tuesday at a programme at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka to mark the eighth anniversary of the gruesome grenade attack on August 21, 2004. Twenty four people were killed, including Ivy Rahman, wife of President Zillur Rahman, and hundreds of party activists and leaders were maimed in at least 13 grenade blasts at Bangabandhu Avenue on the day. The Awami League, then in opposition, had organised a rally there. Hasina narrowly escaped the attack but suffered damage in her right ear. "When I was coming down the stage after delivering my speech, one photojournalist requested me to wait for a moment for a snap, which, I think, saved my life," Hasina said. The attack had been intended to undermine independence, democracy, peace and development and to wipe out the politicianship of Bangladesh, the PM said. She added that the criminals had wanted to put in place a culture of killing, conspiracy, extremism and corruption in the country.

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Bangladesh

Tarique promised attackers safe exit

2012-05-28

[Bangla Daily Star] BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman ...the elder son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, and Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is the Senior Vice Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His nickname is Pino. There are allegations that Pino took a rakeoff from every foreign investment into the country while Mom was in office... assured HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and his associates that he would arrange a safe passage out of the scene once they carried out the grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004, a witness told a Dhaka court yesterday. Abu Hena Md Yusuf, inspector of Criminal Investigation Department, said this in his deposition to the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 as a prosecution witness in the August 21 grenade attack cases. He claimed that Hannan, while on remand in Ramna Batamul blast cases, told him about Tarique's assurance. After recording Abu Hena's deposition, Judge Shahed Nuruddin fixed June 3 for the next hearing. Defence lawyers will cross-examine the witness on that day. Twenty-four AL leaders and workers, including Ivy Rahman, were killed and 300 others were maimed in the grenade attack on the AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on August 21, 2004. The attack was aimed at assassinating AL President Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... , then leader of the opposition. Hasina narrowly escaped death. Two cases -- one under the explosive substances act and the other for murder -- were filed after the incident. Abu Hena told the court that he had earlier investigated the Ramna Batamul blast cases and submitted charge sheets against HuJI chief Hannan and 13 others on November 29, 2008. During investigation of the Ramna Batamul blast cases in 2005, Abu Hena interrogated Hannan about the grenade and kabooms that took place at different places in the country. Hannan admitted that he along with his accomplices in 2000 had planted a 76-kg bomb at Kotalipara where Hasina was to address a rally. They also carried out attacks on Hazrat Shahjalal's shrine in Sylhet, the then Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Badaruddin Kamran, AL leader Suranjit Sengupta and former British High Commissioner Anwar Hossain Choudhury. The HuJI chief told the CID official that he along with Moulana Tajuddin, brother of former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, held a meeting at Pintu's Dhanmondi residence to plot the August 21 grenade attack. Hannan told his accomplices that during a meeting at Hawa Bhaban, Tarique assured him that all the attackers would be provided safe passage out of the scene after the attack, and that Tarique communicated the matter to the then state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar. On assurance from Tarique, elder son of the then prime minister Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... , Hannan collected grenades from Tajuddin and gave those to his accomplices to stage the attack. The CID official recorded Hannan's statements in writing during the investigation. Abu Hena submitted the written statement to his superiors -- the then additional Inspector General of Police Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, CID Special Superintendent of Police Ruhul Amin and ASP Munshi Atiqur Rahman. He also told them that Hannan would make a confessional statement before a Dhaka court. The high-ups got upset with the CID official, as he included information on the August 21 grenade attack in his written statement. They directed him to drop the information and record a confessional statement only on the Ramna blasts. The CID official complied with the instructions of his superiors. Hannan later made a confessional statement to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court but he did not mention anything about the August 21 grenade attack, Hena said. Of the 52 accused in the grenade attack cases, Babar, Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and 24 others, who are now in jug, were produced before the court yesterday. Seven other accused, including former Dhaka City Corporation ward councillor Ariful Islam Arif, now out on bail, were present at the court. Tarique and 18 other accused have been shown absconding in the cases. The CID on July 3, 2011, included Abu Hena as a prosecution witness in the charge sheets of the cases since he was present at the AL rally during the grenade attack.

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Bangladesh

Mojaheed denied bail

2012-04-26

[Bangla Daily Star] A Dhaka court yesterday refused Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed bail in the August 21 grenade attack cases. Judge Shahed Nuruddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 passed the order after a lengthy hearing on the bail petitions filed by the Jamaat secretary general on April 9. Earlier in the day, counsels of six accused in the cases cross-examined Sharif Faruq Ahmed, the then sub-inspector of Motijheel Police Station, who had filed the cases. The court fixed April 30 for the next hearing of the cases. Twenty-four people, including Awami League leader Ivy Rahman, were killed and around 200 others injured in the grisly grenade attack on an AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. The then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina narrowly beat feet the attack. Seven accused, including three former inspectors general of police, who were earlier granted bail by different courts, appeared in the court yesterday while 26 others, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Mojaheed, now in jail custody, were produced. BNP Senior Vice-chairman Tarique Rahman ...the elder son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, and Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is the Senior Vice Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His nickname is Pino. There are allegations that Pino took a rakeoff from every foreign investment into the country while Mom was in office... and 18 others have been absconding since the cases were filed. Syed Rezaur Rahman appeared for the state while TM Akbar, Abdullah Mahmud Hassan and Mahboob Ahmed defended the accused.

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Bangladesh

Tarique okayed Huji plot

2011-08-22

[Bangla Daily Star] HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. leaders met Tarique Rahman a few days before the August 21 grenade attack in 2004 and got the go-ahead to stage the blasts. Lutfozzaman Babar, then state minister for home, Harris Chowdhury, political secretary to then prime minister Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... , Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, then NSI director general Brig Gen Abdur Rahim and DGFI director Brig Gen Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury were present at that meeting, held at Hawa Bhaban in the capital's Banani. The attack was the outcome of collaboration between HuJI, influential leaders of BNP and Jamaat, and some officials of the home ministry, police, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Prime Minister's Office (PMO). This is what Sherlocks have found in further probe and described in the supplementary charge sheet in the August 21 murder case. The Daily Star has lately obtained a copy of the charge sheet submitted in July. The August 21 blasts at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue killed 24 leaders and workers including Ivy Rahman, wife of now President Zillur Rahman, and injured 300 others including Sheikh Hasina, now prime minister. According to the charges, leaders of banned Death Eater group Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) had two meetings with Tarique, elder son of Khaleda and the then senior joint secretary general of BNP. Both were held at Hawa Bhaban, widely considered the alternative centre of power during the last BNP-Jamaat coalition rule. At the first meeting, in early 2004, HuJI leaders sought support in executing their plans to assassinate Sheikh Hasina and other top AL leaders. BNP politician Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad had helped arrange the meeting. Tarique assured the HuJI men of all-out support. At the second meeting, which took place in mid-August, he reiterated his assurance to HuJI boss Mufti Hannan and his associates. For the second meeting, HuJI leaders Mufti Hannan, Moulana Abu Taher, Moulana Sheikh Farid and Moulana Tajuddin went to Hawa Bhaban on a microbus of Al Markazul Islam, a non-government organization. Moulana Abdur Rashid of Al Markazul was with them, but he was left waiting on the ground floor when they went upstairs to meet Tarique. On August 18, three days before the attack, the HuJI leaders met Babar at the residence of former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu. Owner of Hanif transport Mohammad Hanif and BNP ward commissioner Ariful Islam Arif were present at the meeting. Babar and Pintu assured the Death Eater leaders that Hanif and Arif would help them in every way and that "they would receive all administrative assistance." The Arges grenades used in the attack were smuggled in from Pakistain. Tajuddin, Salam Pintu's brother, had supplied the grenades, which were taken to Mufti Hannan's Badda office from Pintu's Dhanmondi residence on August 20. The first charge sheet in the August 21 case was placed in 2008 against 22 people including Salam Pintu and 21 HuJI leaders and workers. The supplementary charge sheet was submitted on July 3, accusing 30 more people including Tarique, Babar, Harris and Mojaheed. It says some police officials deliberately did not take necessary security measures so that the perpetrators had no difficulty staging the blasts and fleeing the scene. The then Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Ashraful Huda, who later went on to become the Inspector General of Police, went abroad on the day of the attack without ordering adequate security arrangements for the AL rally. On his return, he did not take any punitive steps against the law enforcers who were negligent in their duties on the rally venue. The then IGP Shahudul Haque purposely did not update himself with the security measures taken on the rally venue. He did not even visit the scene after the attack, though it was only around 500 yards from his office. He also did not issue any directives to identify or arrest the perpetrators. Tajuddin, supplier of the grenades, left the country for Pakistain on instructions from Babar. Khaleda Zia was aware of this, continues the charge sheet. Tajuddin was given a fake passport with the name "Badal". Saiful Islam Duke, Khaleda's nephew and also private secretary, Duke's brother-in-law and DGFI official Lt Col Saiful Islam Joarder, and another top DGFI official Major Gen (rtd) ATM Amin had helped him flee the country on October 10, 2006.

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India-Pakistan

PM says govt obligated to try culprits

2011-08-21

[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government wants to end killing, terrorism and militancy in the country through bringing the criminal masterminds and killers of grenade attacks of August 21 under trial. The premier also said the August 21 grenade attack was aimed at halting the trend of independence, democracy, peace and development as well as making the country leaderless and to give the killing, conspiracy, terrorism, militancy and corruption a permanent stay. Terming the attack a 'stigmatised day' in the political history of the country, Sheikh Hasina said, "The killers carried out the barbaric attack in broad day light on a peaceful rally of Awami League to kill me". "Our party leaders and workers by forming a human-shield saved me from the series of grenade attacks," she recalled. "I survived the attack due to immense blessings of the Almighty, but some 24 leaders and workers including president of Mohila Awami League Ivy Rahman embraced martyrdom. Many of the injured in the attack are now leading painful lives," she said. Sheikh Hasina said it was the moral obligation of a government to arrest and to try the culprits involved with any such heinous attack. But, the then government of BNP protected the killers and helped a number of attackers to leave the country. They destroyed the evidences of the incidence and in the name of investigation, diverted the heinous incident to other direction, she said. She paid her deep homage to the deaders of August 21 and urged all to create such a democratic political atmosphere where peace and safety of all people will be ensured.

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Bangladesh

3 ex-investigators sent to prison

2011-07-07

[Bangla Daily Star] Three former Criminal Investigation Department Sherlocks accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases were sent to jail after they surrendered before a Dhaka court yesterday. The three are also accused of misleading the probe into the grenade attack cases. Metropolitan Magistrate Keshob Roy Chowdhury sent them to jail when former special superintendent of police Ruhul Amin and two former assistant superintendents of police Munshi Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid appeared before the court seeking bail. They sought bail in the case filed in connection with the killing of 24 people in the grisly grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004. During the hearing on bail petition, their lawyer Abdus Sobhan told the court that his clients were implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy to harass them. He said the rules allow his clients to have bail. Moreover, another case was filed against them in connection with misleading the probe and they have received bail in that case, he said. Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu told the court that the charges brought against the accused were primarily proved. The three accused had earlier misled the probe into the grenade attack cases and he prayed for sending them to jail rejecting their bail. On Monday, three former police chiefs--Ashraful Huda, Khoda Baksh Chowdhury and Shahudul Haque--were also sent to jail after they had surrendered before the same court seeking bail. Two cases were filed after the attack. One for murder of 24 people and the other under Explosive Substances Act. EXPLOSIVES CASE Hearing on the charges against 30 new accused, including BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, in the case filed under Explosive Substances Act will be held on July 14. After scrutinising the case dockets and other relevant documents, Judge Mohammad Zohurul Haque of Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court fixed the date for hearing on taking into cognizance the charges against the accused. The court also directed the jail authorities to produce 12 accused, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, on that day. BACKGROUND Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina narrowly beat feet when a barrage of grenades went kaboom! at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004, killing 24 people. President Zillur Rahman's wife and Awami League leader Ivy Rahman died and 500 others were maimed. In 2008, the CID submitted charge sheets against 22 people including former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and 21 Harkatul Jihad men including thug kingpin Mufti Hannan. On August 3, 2008, a Dhaka court ordered the CID Sherlocks to further probe the grenade attack as the earlier investigation failed to reveal the sources of the grenades and identify the criminal masterminds. After 14 time extensions, the CID on Sunday submitted the supplementary charge sheet accusing 30 more people.

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Bangladesh

Detained Mojaheed shown arrested

2011-05-16

[Bangla Daily Star] Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ... a Pakistani catspaw remaining active in Bangla politix, loosely affiliated with the Pak religious party of the same name and closely affiliated with most of the terror organizations in Bangla. A member of the BNP's four party governing coalition.... Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was shown tossed in the calaboose yesterday in one of the two cases filed for the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004. Metropolitan Magistrate Keshob Roy Chowdhury passed the order following an appeal by Criminal Investigation Department's (CID) Special Superintendent of Police Abdul Kahar Akand, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case filed under Explosive Substances Act. The IO, in his plea mentioned that chief of Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. Mufti Abdul Hannan in his statement on April 7 disclosed five names, including Mojaheed, who were involved in the attack. The four others are former DGFI director Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, former NSI director general Abdur Rahim, acting HuJI chief Maulana Shawkat Osman and its Nayeb-e-Ameer Maulana Abdul Hannan Sabbir, he said. During investigation they also revealed the names of the grenade suppliers and the patrons of the attack that killed 23 people including AL leader Ivy Rahman and injured many including Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader. Al Markajul Islam Vice-chairman Maulana Abdul Rashid also gave statements before a magistrate in connection with the attack. A process is underway to quiz Mojaheed, who was then social welfare minister, at the jail gate in this connection. Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings... Judge Mohammad Zohurul Haque of Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court granted the CID 20 days more to complete further investigation into the case. The CID sought 30 more days saying it needs the time to arrest those still on the run. The same court on April 20 gave 25 days more to complete the investigation, which expired on Sunday. With this, the CID has been given 22 months in 10 phases to probe the case. Meantime, HuJI Nayeb-e-Ameer Abdul Hannan Sabbir was placed on a four-day fresh remand in the case. Earlier, he was taken on 10 days' remand in connection with the CPB rally kaboom case following his arrest on April 25 from a residence in Keraniganj. Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... Jamaat acting Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam in a statement yesterday condemned the arrest order against Mojaheed in the grenade attack case. Azharul said the AL government tossed in the calaboose Mojaheed to take political Dire Revenge™. According to the statement, Jamaat had condemned the attack on the AL rally on Bangabandhu Avenue and demanded punishment of the attackers.

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Bangladesh

Grenade attackers fled by Al Markajul ambulance

2011-05-11

[Bangla Daily Star] Perpetrators of the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally decamped the scene in an ambulance provided by a non-government organisation Al Markajul Islami Bangladesh. The criminal masterminds of the attack also had a series of planning meetings in the NGO's office in the capital. Al Markajul Islam Vice-chairman Moulana Abdul Rashid, who had been picked up by the Criminal Investigation Department on Sunday, gave the information in a statement to the Sherlocks yesterday, said CID officials. CID Special Superintendent Abdul Kahar Akand, who is the investigation officer of the case, told The Daily Star, "We summoned Rashid to the CID headquarters at Malibagh to quiz him about what he knows regarding the attack, and recorded his statement." Asked about the planning meetings held in Al Markajul office, and supplying of an ambulance for the fleeing attackers, the CID investigator declined to make any comment. But other CID sources said Rashid claimed that jugged Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. founder Abdus Salam, HuJI chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, acting chiefs Moulana Sheikh Farid and Abdul Hannan Sabbir, and Pakistain-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Moulana Tajuddin, who is currently a runaway, were among the bully boy leaders who held meetings several times in the NGO's office, leading up to the attack. But as all participants in the meetings were senior bully boy leaders and as his bigwigs allowed them to hold the meetings in the office, he could not protest; and Al Markajul Islami supplied an ambulance on request of the bully boy leaders, without knowing that the vehicle would be used in the attack, CID officials quoted Rashid as saying. Rashid, 60, of Gopalganj district was picked up from his office in Shyamoli, based on information provided by tossed in the calaboose HuJI leader Moulana Sheikh Farid, who is now on remand. The sources said in the statement Rashid admitted that Al Markajul Islami Bangladesh was involved in the attack, but denied his own involvement. Rashid was released last night after interrogation, said his son Hafez Abdullah. Moulana Sayeed Nur, acting chairman of the NGO, however said on Sunday night, "The allegation is baseless. Tut tut, my good man! And tut! we never thought of such a heinous act." Chairman of the NGO, Mufti Shahidul Islam, who had been tossed in the calaboose and sentenced to jail on tax evasion charges, got out on bail and is currently on the run. Funded by Middle Eastern countries, Al Markajul Islami is a service oriented NGO that mainly provides services for burial, and for transporting dead bodies and patients. Former BNP state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, two former directors general of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) -- Maj Gen (retd) Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury and Brig Gen (retd) M Abdur Rahim -- are also tossed in the calaboose in the case. CID earlier submitted a charge sheet accusing 22 people in the case, but the court directed the department to investigate further to find out the sources of the grenades, and the supplier. Twenty-four people, including AL leader Ivy Rahman, were killed and more than 300 others were maimed in the grenade attack on the AL rally.

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