Udichi Tragedy Case of 1999
Jessore court summons people acquitted earlier
Following a High Court order for revival of the sensational Jessore Udichi tragedy case of 1999, the chief judicial magistrate of Jessore has issued summons upon the earlier acquitted people to appear before the court within 30 days from the day of receiving the notice.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate's court received the letter from the High Court in this regard on last Monday and issued the summons on the people concerned on Tuesday.
On March 3 of 2010, the Ministry of Home Affairs filed an appeal with the High Court challenging acquittal of the 23 accused in the case.
On May 4 this year, a High Court division bench comprising Justice Siddiqur Rahman and Justice Krishna Devnath issued order for reviving the case asking all the 23 acquitted people to surrender before the lower court.
Ten people were killed and over a hundred others seriously injured in two bomb blasts on March 6 in 1999, the concluding day of the 12th national convention of Udichi Shilpi Goshthi held at the Town Hall ground of Jessore town.
Two cases were filed in this connection with the Jessore Kotwali police station.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) pressed charge sheet naming 24 people as accused of killing ten persons and injuring over a hundred others in two separate bomb attacks.
One of charge-sheeted accused, Tariqul Islam, former minister of the BNP-led four-party alliance government, was later exempted from the charge by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
After a long trial, the District and Sessions Judge of Jessore delivered verdict on June 6 in 2006 acquitting the remaining 23 accused.
The president and the general secretary of Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Goshthi submitted a memorandum to the government on July 6 in 2006 demanding reinvestigation of the case. Accordingly, the home ministry ordered extended investigation of the case.
The case, however, took a new turn as kingpin of banned militant organisation Harkatul Jihad Mufti Abdul Hannan confessed to his involvement in the bomb attacks.
Of the 23 people who were earlier acquitted in the case, Ahsan Kabir Hasan and Mizanur Rahman were killed in 'crossfire' with Rab and Alamgir Mohiuddin, also a former ward commissioner, died of protracted illness.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments