Ten years have elapsed since the bomb blast at a rally of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) in the city’s Paltan Maidan, but the investigation into the case filed in this connection is yet to be completed.
The CPB will observe the 10th anniversary of the tragic incident today (Thursday) with a renewed call to punish the culprits involved in the blast.
Five people were killed and 50 others injured in the blast on January 20, 2001. CPB President Manjural Ahsan Khan had filed a case with Motijheel Police Station in this connection after the incident.
The CID was entrusted with the task of investigating the blast following the case. Police had arrested 12 people suspecting their involvement in the incident. But the police found nothing from them during interrogation.
After two years of the incident, the CID had submitted a final report before the court on December 17, 2003. The 12 arrested people were released from the custody as the CID could not brought charges against any of them due to lack of evidence.
On January 27, 2005, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dhaka asked the authorities to reinvestigate the matter following a petition for fresh probe into the case.
The CID was again given the charge to look into the incident. But, they are yet to complete the investigation and missed several deadlines for submission of the charge sheet.
“A significant progress has been made following the confessional statement by Harkatul Jihad leader Mufti Mainuddin Sheikh under section 164 before the court ,” Investigation Officer Mrinal Kanti Saha, an inspector of the CID, told daily sun on Sunday,
He said Mufti Mainuddin in his confessional statement confessed that Harkatu Jihad leaders Mufti Abdul Hannan, Ahsanullah Kazol, Arif Hasan Sumon alias Razzak,Maulana Sheikh Farid, Jahangir Badar, Maulana Sabbir Ahmed, Mufti Shafikur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Nurul Islam and two unidentified men carried out the bomb attack.
Five Harkatul Jihad men, including Arif Hasan Sumon now languishing in jail in connection with the August 21, 2004 grenade attack case, carried out the attack on the CPB rally at Paltan, he said quoting the statement.
The Harkatul Jihad men carried out the bomb attacks on CPB rally at the directives of Harkatul Jihad kingpin Mufti Abdul Hannan, he said.
Asked about the timeframe for submitting the charge-sheet, he said, “It will take two or three months more to complete the investigation. After completion of the investigation, we will submit the charge-sheet.”
The CPB has taken various programmes to mark the day.
They will hold a rally expressing solidarity with the victims’ family. Leaders and activists of the CPB will pay their tributes at the temporary memorial at Muktangan in the capital.
