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| Bangladesh |
| HuJi boss Hannan, 5 others to be charged |
| 2007-06-07 |
| The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is likely to submit charge sheet next week against six people, including Harkatul Jihad (HuJi) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, in connection with the case filed for the grenade attack on British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury on May 21, 2004. The investigation officer (IO) of the case Senior Assistant Superintendent (ASP) of CID, Dhaka Zone Munshi Atiqur Rahman told The Daily Star Saturday, "I hope the charge sheet would be finalised within days and submitted to the court next week. It awaits the approval of authorities concerned." The six people to be named as accused in the charge sheet are HuJi leaders Mufti Abdul Hannan and late Ahsan Ullah Kajal, and Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul, Delwar Hossain Ripon, Mufti Hannan's brother Mufti Mofiz and Abu Jandal. Among them, four are in jail while Abu Jandal is at large. The Memo of Evidence (ME) was submitted to the superintendent of police (SP), Sylhet on Saturday, sources said. The names of the accused are mentioned in the ME. The SP and the public prosecutor of Sylhet will go through the ME before finalising the charge sheet, the IO said. Deposition of a witness was recorded before a magistrate's court in Sylhet May 31 while Sharif and Ripon gave confessional statements before Magistrate Nure Alam Siddique in Sylhet on October 16, 2006, the IO added. Sources say they in their confessional statements said they carried out the grenade attack on the British high commissioner. They also admitted to their involvement in the grenade attack on Gulshan Centre premises in Sylhet on August 2004, the sources added. They said they received a message on May 21, 2004 morning from HuJi leader Abu Abdullah about the high commissioner's visit to Hazrat Shahjalal Shrine in Sylhet. Kajal, later on, instructed them to carry out the operation over cellphone. Ripon arrived at the shrine with the grenade and Bipul joined him there. Sources say they confessed to hurling the grenade at the high commissioner after Juma prayers when he was near the main gate of the shrine. They said Mufti Hannan thanked them after their mission. The blast left three, including police sub-inspector Kamal Uddin, dead and 70 others including the British high commissioner wounded. Investigators from Scotland Yard visited the shrine several times to probe the incident. The then SP of Sylhet was suspended and withdrawn on charge of negligence of duty in making security arrangements for the high commissioner months after the attack. The OC of Sylhet Police Station was also withdrawn. |
| Posted by:Fred |