Jatrabari arson: Arrest warrant for Khaleda

A Dhaka court today issued arrest warrant against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 27 others in connection with an arson attack on a passenger bus at Dhaka’s Jatrabari in January last year that left one killed and 30 others injured.

Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after accepting charges against 38 people including the 28.

The court directed officer-in-charge of Jatrabari Police Station to submit report by April 27 on the status of execution of the arrest warrant.

On May 19 last year, detectives pressed charges against Khaleda and 27 others, mostly her party men, allegedly for carrying out subversive activities by petrol bomb attack on the passenger bus on January 23.

One person was killed and 30 others were injured in the attack – one of many bomb attacks that the country witnessed in the three months since early January when the BNP-led 20-party alliance started an indefinite blockade.

On May 6 last year, detectives submitted two charge sheets — one for murder and another for explosions charges – against Khaleda and the 37 people for the same bomb attack.

A day after the January 23 attack, Jatrabari police filed two cases against 68 BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders. The cases were later transferred to the Detective Branch of Police.

The accused include BNP leaders MK Anwar, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, Amanullah Aman, Barkatullah Bulu, Habibunnabi Khan Sohel, Mir Sarafat Ali Sapu, Azizul Bari Helal, Sultan Salauddin Tuku, former BNP lawmaker from Dhaka Salauddin Ahmed, Khaleda's advisors Khandker Mahbub Hossain and Shawkat Mahmud, her special assistant Shimul Biswas and press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan.