A Pabna court yesterday sentenced nine people to death in a case over the attack on a train carrying the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina in Ishwardi 25 years ago.

The court also handed down life sentence to 25 accused and 10-year rigorous imprisonment to 13 others in the case filed under the Explosives Substances Act, 1908.

All the convicts are leaders and activists of local BNP and its front organisations, Jahirul Islam, office secretary of Pabna district BNP, told The Daily Star.

Of the convicts, 33 were present in a crowded courtroom when Judge Rustom Ali of Pabna Special Tribunal-3 pronounced the judgment. Another convict is in jail in a separate case while the remaining 13 are on the run.

The prosecution and local Awami League leaders expressed satisfaction over the verdict, saying justice has been done after a long time.

However, defence counsels and local BNP leaders said they were deprived of justice and will challenge the verdict in higher courts.

On September 23, 1994, Hasina, now the prime minister, was travelling from Khulna to Saidpur by train and addressed several rallies at different railway stations on the way.

As the train reached Paksey station in Ishwardi, it came under attack. Crude bombs were hurled and shots fired. The attack continued till the train reached Ishwardi station. Many were injured while the AL president was unhurt.

Following the attack, Nazrul Islam, the then officer-in-charge of Ishwardi General Railway Police Station, filed a case against five members of the BNP and its associate bodies.

Police submitted the final report the same year but the court didn’t accept it.

The court ordered the Criminal Investigation Department to reinvestigate. In April 1997, the CID submitted charge sheet against 52. Five of them died later.

The nine who got death penalty are: AKM Akteruzzaman, former president of Ishwardi municipality unit BNP; Zakaria Pintu, general secretary of the BNP unit; Mokhlesur Rahman Bablu, ex-general secretary of the BNP unit and ex-mayor of Ishwardi municipality; Rezaul Karim Shahin, ex-leader of Ishwardi Government College Chhatra Dal unit; Azizur Rahman Shahin, convener of Ishwardi upazila Jubo Dal; and local BNP activists Shahidul Islam Atal, Shyamol, Mahabubur Rahman Polash and Shamsul Alam. They were also fined Tk 5 lakh each.

Of them, only Pintu is absconding.

“Following a long legal battle, the court punished all the 47 charge-sheeted accused, based on evidence and testimonies of the witnesses,” Public Prosecutor Akteruzzaman Mukta said.

Additional Public Prosecutor Abdul Ahad Babu said justice has been meted out through this verdict.

“The then police officials gave the final report hurriedly in 1994 during the tenure of the then BNP-led government. But the court did not accept it.” 

The accused, on various occasions, tried to divert the course of the case by producing “fake witnesses” during the last tenure of the BNP-led government. But their attempt went in vain, he mentioned. 

However, Masud Khandaker, a defence counsel and also vice president of Pabna district BNP, said, “We have been deprived of justice. Arguments in the case ended on July 1. This is a sensational case. The court hurriedly pronounced the verdict without examining all the testimonies.”

“We will appeal against the verdict,” he added.

“We are unhappy at the verdict. The verdict is not acceptable, considering the crime,” Kaisar Ahmed Piash, son of Akkel Ali who was sentenced to life imprisonment, told journalists.

Local BNP men brought out a procession on the court premises, protesting the judgment.

The ruling AL men also marched in a procession there, expressing satisfaction over the verdict.

Rezaur Rahim Lal, senior vice president of Pabna district AL, said all have the right to do politics in a democratic country, but the then BNP government tried to “stop” the AL.

“BNP cadres made the attack on Sheikh Hasina when she was carrying out political activities,” he added.

BNP’S STATEMENT

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed grave concern at the conviction of Pabna BNP leaders and activists in what he claimed was a “false case”.

Condemning the verdict, he said the 1994 incident of attack on Sheikh Hasina in Ishwardi was “fake and fabricated”.

The attack was staged by AL men to create a political issue, he claimed in a statement yesterday.

“The verdict proves that the government is trying to put dedicated BNP leaders on gallows,” he added.

OTHER CONVICTS

Those given life term are Aminul Islam, Azad Hossain, Ismail Hossain, Alauddin Bishwas, Shamsur Rahman, Anisur Rahman, Akkel Ali, Md Rabi, Md Enam, Abul Kashem, Kala Babu, Mamun, Selim, Kollol, Tuhin, Shah Alam Liton, Abdulla Al Mamun, Laizu, Abdul Jabbar, Polash, Hakimuddin alias Tenu, Alamgir, Abul Kalam and AKM Firozul Islam.

They were also fined TK 3 lakh each, in default of which they will have to spend two more years in jail.

Those awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment are Nefaur Rahman Raju, Azmal Hossain, Anwar Hossain Jony, Rono, Barkat, Chand Ali, Enamul Kabir, Moktar Hossain, Hafizur Rahman Mukul, Humayun Kabir Dulal, Jamrul, Tuhin Bin Siddique and Fazlur Rahman.

They were also fined Tk 1 lakh each, in default of which they will have to spend one more year in prison.