Some names still not on charge sheet

Asma Kibria yesterday said that the latest charge sheet submitted in connection with her husband SAMS Kibria's murder does not contain the names of some key conspirators.

"One of them is former deputy commissioner Md Emdadul Haque of Habiganj," she said in a statement posted on www.mridubhashan.com.

Her son Reza Kibria last night confirmed The Daily Star of the statement's authenticity.

SAMS Kibria, then an opposition lawmaker, was assassinated in a grenade attack at a rally in Habiganj on January 27, 2005. The blast also killed Kibria's nephew Shah Manzur Huda, local Awami League leader Abdur Rahim and two others.

“I had been waiting for a long time to see that the real killers of my husband and their accomplices and instigators be tried publicly in the court,” Asma Kibria said.

"We had to wait for 10 years to get a so-so charge sheet. Now a question arises -- how long will it take to complete the trial process?"

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police submitted the third charge sheet in the case to Habiganj District and Sessions Judge's Court on November 13.

Harris Chowdhury, former premier Khaleda Zia's political secretary; Sylhet Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury; Habiganj district BNP general secretary GK Gaus and militant outfit Huji members Hafez Yahiya, Abu Bakar Md Karim, Delwar Hossain, Sheikh Farid, Abdul Jalil and Abdus Salam were named in the charge sheet.

Earlier, two charge sheets were submitted in 2005 and 2011 but the Kibria family rejected both.

"Investigating Officer of the CID ASP Rafiqul Islam submitted the [second] charge sheet excluding the names of criminals ... Abdul Mazid Khan, [original] plaintiff of the case, tried to force me into accepting the charge sheet," Asma Kibria said while explaining why they rejected the previous two charge sheets.

"Investigations through the Anti-Corruption Commission should be launched against Abdul Mazid Khan, current PP [public prosecutor of Habiganj] Akbar Hussein, (who tried to influence the court to accept an incorrect charge sheet) and investigation officer Rafiqul Islam to see whether any corruption took place in the case proceedings," she wrote.

"I had no intention of doing politics over my husband's murder," she clarified.