Hearing on govt petition for withdrawal of case held

Judge Mohammad Nuruzzaman of the Special Tribunal-7 did not pass any order on the issue.

The prosecution and the defence made submissions on the issue saying that the home ministry had earlier decided to withdraw the case filed against them.

The case was filed against Abul Baqui Khan Shipon, Mohammad Shariful Islam Uzzal and Abul Kalam with Motijheel Police Station on August 21 in 2001 during a caretaker government rule.

The home ministry in a letter in March, 2003 informed the district magistrate of Dhaka that it wants to take back the charge against Uzzal as it was "politically motivated".

The ministry asked the magistrate to hand over the matter to the district public prosecutor (PP) who it said will arrange withdrawal of the case with permission from an appropriate court.

PP Abdullah Mahmud Hassan on May 17, 2003 filed a petition with the Seventh Special Tribunal, Dhaka along with a photocopy of the home ministry's missive.

After hearing both the sides, the judge on October 6 the same year rejected the petition.

The home ministry again in a letter on February 6 informed the district magistrate of Dhaka that it still wants to have the arms case against Uzzal, Shipon and Kalam withdrawn, as it was "politically motivated".

On February 28, PP submitted another petition to the same tribunal.

A team of Detective Branch (DB) police arrested the three on August 21, 2001 at South Shahjahanpur in the city's Motijheel area. They seized two pistols and one rifle and 73 bullets from them.