30 more jailed, Rizvi, Aman among 45 charged
Dhaka metropolitan magistrate courts on Monday sentenced 30 more leaders and activists of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party to different terms of imprisonment and framed charges against Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Amanullah Aman and 43 leaders and activists of the party on charges of violence in the capital.
Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Moinul Islam sentenced 14 leaders and activists to three years jail in a case filed with Rampura police station in Dhaka.
The convicts are Faiz Ahmed Faru, Abul Masher, Helal Kabir, Alam, Shobhan, Kamal Hossain Dulu, Nafid Sarwar Tanmoy, Ashraful Arif, Moshiur Rahman, Rezaul Karim, Main Uddin Ahmed Tuhin, Mirza Hasan Imam Bulu, Ahmed Ali Chowdhury and Didarul Islam.
In September 2018, police filed the case with Rampura police station against the BNP leaders and activities on charges of vandalism in the area.
The same court on Monday also sentenced 15 leaders and activists of BNP to 30 months jail each in a case filed with Sabujbagh police station in the capital.
The convicts are Habibur Rashid Habib, Morsalin, Monir Hossain, Kazi Babu, Suhrawardy Chairman, Almas Hossain Chairman, Ataur Rahman, Mohammad Maksud, Babu, Alamat Ullah, Md Salamat, Omar Faruque, Shajahan, AKM Rashidul Hasan Noman, and Mohammad Golam Hossain.
The case was filed with Sabujbagh police station against the BNP people on charges of violence in December, 2012.
On the other hand, Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Md Tofazzal Hossain sentenced a BNP activist named Jahirul Islam to three years imprisonment in a case filed with Mugda police station on charges of violence.
The court, however, acquitted 38 leaders and activists of BNP including BNP leader Nabi Ullah Nabi as the charges brought against them were not proved in the case.
The case was filed in November 2013, against the BNP people on charges of violence in the Mugda area in the capital.
Meanwhile, metropolitan magistrate Tofazzal Hossain framed charges against 45 leaders and activists of the BNP including its senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Dhaka north city unit convener Amanullah Aman in a case filed with Mohammadpur police station on charges of violence in 2015.
The court also fixed January 4 to start examining prosecution witnesses in the case.
The other accused include BNP vice-chairman Barkatullah Bulu, organising secretary Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, Juba Dal former president and BNP leader Saiful Alam Nirob and Juba Dal organising secretary Ishak Sarker.
The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of 20 accused including Rizvi, Dulu, and Bulu as they were absent during the charge framing in the case.
Aman and Nirob, now in jail, and 23 others who are on bail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after the magistrate read out the charges to them.
According to the case documents, police filed the case against the BNP people on charges of hurling a petrol bomb on a passenger bus, setting it on fire in Mohammadpur Beribadh area on January 17, 2015 that left six to seven passengers injured.
The police on August 23, 2016, submitted a charge-sheet against the 45 BNP leaders and activists in the case.
BNP leaders alleged that the conviction of BNP leaders and activists, key organisers, lawyers, and professionals loyal to the party has become prompt in recent weeks ahead of the national election slated for January 7.
The disposal of cases, what the BNP called political ones, intensified after prime minister Sheikh Hasina, at a programme on October 21, asked lawyers and courts to take prompt measures for quick disposal of the cases related to arson.
Since the prime minister’s instruction, around 600 leaders and activists of the BNP have been convicted in different cases across the country, according to lawyers and court sources.
