Bangladesh Nationalist Party Acting Chairperson Tariq Rahman Acquitted In Grenade Attacks Case On Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh High Court has acquitted all the accused including the Acting Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Tareq Rahman in the August 21 grenade attacks case on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, lawyers said on Sunday.

The court also scrapped the lower court verdict, in which a total of 49 persons were convicted. Among them, the lower court sentenced 19 people including former State Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar to death and acquitted all the accused.

The High Court observed that the trial court verdict in the cases is illegal as it was delivered in an illegal manner.

The Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, this year.

The attack left 24 dead and more than 500 injured. The attack was carried out at 5:22 pm after Sheikh Hasina, the then-leader of opposition had finished addressing a crowd of 20,000 people from the back of a truck. Hasina also sustained some injuries in the attack.

Meanwhile, on November 30, ISKCON Kolkata claimed that Bangladesh authorities have arrested two of its monks, Adipurush Shyam Das and Ranganath Das Brahmachari, and its secretary of Chinmoy Krishna Das.
Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata Radha Raman said that the monks were arrested on Friday by the police while on their way home after meeting secretary of Chinmoy Krishna Das, who was arrested on the charges of sedition on November 25.

Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata, Radha Raman said, "On November 29, when Adipurush Shyam Das and Ranganath Das Brahmachari were returning after meeting Chinmoy Krishna Prabhu, they were arrested by the police. We are also getting information that the secretary of Chinmoy Krishna Das has also been arrested," Radha Raman said in a self-made video.

He further claimed that rioters had also vandalised the ISKCON centre in Bangladesh. On Friday, India expressed concern over the rise of "extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence and provocation" in Bangladesh. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India has consistently and strongly raised the issue of targeted attacks on Hindus and other minorities with the Bangladesh government.