Comilla arson case: Khaleda files bail petition with HC

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia today filed a petition with the High Court seeking bail in a case filed on charge of killing eight people and injuring 25-26 others by setting fire to a bus at Chouddagram of Comilla in 2015.

Police filed the case under Special Powers Act-1974 with Chouddagram Police Station on February 3, 2015 after the incident took place on the previous day.

A lawyer on behalf of Khaleda Zia submitted the bail petition to the High Court saying that her name was not mentioned in the first information report and there was no specific allegation against her.

In the petition, she prayed to the HC to grant her bail on the ground that she is aged and suffers illness while the other accused of the case have already got bail from the court.

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Comilla Cases: SC extends stay order on Khaleda's bail

Khaleda’s lawyer Advocate Masud Rana told The Daily Star today that the HC bench of Justice Md Shawkat Hossain and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman may hold the hearing on the bail petition within a day or two.

Forty-one, out of the 77 accused, in the case filed over killing in Comilla were on bail while the rest were on the run.    

On May 31, the Supreme Court extended its chamber judge's order that stayed the bail granted by the High Court to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two criminal cases filed in Comilla, including this one.

The other case was filed in connection with vandalising vehicles in Comilla's Chouddagram upazila on January 25, 2015.

Narail court denies Khaleda’s bail plea

Meanwhile, a Narail court today denied bail to Khaleda in a case filed over her 'derogatory remarks' against freedom fighters, UNB reports.

Judge Sheikh Abdul Ahad of District and Sessions Judge Court passed the order after hearing the bail petition.

Earlier on May 30, Judge Sheikh Abdul Ahad set the date (today) following the petition filed by BNP's international affairs secretary Adv Masud Ahmed Talukder.

On December 21, 2015, Khaleda Zia at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh raised questions about the actual number of Liberation War martyrs saying, "There're controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War. There're also many books and documents on the controversies.

Reacting over the Khaleda's remark, Raihan Farooque Imam of Naragati filed a case with the Cognisance Court on December 24, 2015.