A Cumilla court today deffered till February 4 the bail hearing of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on a murder case filed for killing eight persons.

Judge M Ali Akbar of district and sessions judge's court passed the order after the prosecution sought adjournment, reports our local correspondent.

The court also set the same date for hearing on charge-framing against Khaleda and other accused in the case.

With this, the hearing on Khaleda Zia's bail petition has been deferred for four times, said Khaleda’s lawyer M Qaimul Haque.

Talking to reporters, a prosecution lawyer said: “We sought adjournment of the hearing on Khaleda’s bail as we did not take enough preparation.”

The case was filed on charges of killing eight people and injuring 25 to 26 others by torching a bus in Chouddagram upazila in February 2015.

Khaleda was not named in the first information report (FIR). But later, her name was included in the charge sheet after her involvement was found.

Earlier, the BNP chief was also sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case and seven years' jail term in Zia Charitable Trust graft case.