Aug 21 grenade attack: Arrest order against Tarique withdrawn

A Dhaka tribunal has withdrawn its previous arrest order against BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who was convicted in two cases over the August 21 grenade attack in 2004.

Judge Md Rafiqul Islam of the Speedy Tribunal-1 of Dhaka on February 9 passed the order on receiving the High Court's acquittal order, a court staffer said today.

On December 1 last year, the HC acquitted Tarique, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, and all others convicted in the cases. The HC also scrapped the lower court verdicts that convicted and sentenced the 49 other accused in the cases.

The bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the verdict after hearing death references (trial court documents seeking confirmation of capital punishment) and appeals filed by some of the convicts. Those who had not filed appeals would also benefit from the judgment, said defence lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir.

The cases were filed under murder charges and the Explosive Substances Act, following the gruesome grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue, Dhaka, which killed 24 people and left about 300 injured.

On October 10, 2018, Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced 19 people to death, including Babar. Tarique, now in London, and 18 others were sentenced to life imprisonment, while 11 others received prison terms of varying lengths.