A Dhaka court on Wednesday discharged a total of 32 BNP leaders and activists and its associate organisations from a case, filed over vandalising vehicles and assaulting policemen.
Judge of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka, Md Mahabubul Hoque, passed the order after hearing petitions, filed by the accused persons for discharging them from the case.
BNP Executive Committee Member Habibur Rashid Habib, its Dhaka City South Member Secretary Rafiqul Alam Majnu, Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal President Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, and its former president Saiful Alam Nirob are among the accused.
Lawyers Mohammod Zaynul Abedin Mesbah, Chaitanya Chandra Halder and others appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the petitioners.
In the petitions, the lawyers said the charges brought against the accused were false, fabricated and baseless. Their clients were implicated in the case just for harassment. So, their discharge petitions should be granted.
The prosecution opposed the petitions, saying the charges brought against the accused were primarily proven, and therefore the petitions should be dismissed.
Upon hearing both the sides, the magistrate granted the petitions and discharged the BNP men from the charges.
According to the case statement, a group of BNP leaders and activists, led by Salahuddin Tuku, gathered in front of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in the capital at around 1:45 pm on April 23, 2018. They protested the conviction of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018.
Following the incident, police filed a case against Habib, Tuku, Majnu, Nirob and 23 others with Paltan Model Police Station. After investigation, police pressed charges against a total of 32 people on July 23, 2019.
[email protected]
