The High Court (HC) on Wednesday acquitted all accused, including nine individuals who were sentenced to death, in the case filed over the attack on a train in 1994 for attempt to kill the then-opposition leader and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina at Ishwardi railway station.
The HC also scrapped the trial court judgement, which sentenced nine people to death, life imprisonment to 25, and 10 years' jail sentence to 13 accused in the case.
The HC bench comprising Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Hamidur Rahman delivered the verdict after concluding hearing on appeals and death references.
The High Court also asked the jail authorities to immediately release the accused, who are in the prison.
Earlier, on January 30, the High Court concluded hearings on the death references, appeals, and jail appeals, setting 5 February as the date for the verdict.
Defense lawyer Kaiser Kamal, along with advocate Md Maksud Ullah, represented the accused, while Deputy Attorney General Md Mujibur Rahman appeared for the state.
Advocate Md Maksud Ullah said the High Court acquitted the accused from the case as the allegations brought against them were not proved.
There was no eyewitness in the case, he said, adding that those who have made statements as witnesses before the magistrate concerned were the people from a particular political party-Awami League.
Sheikh Hasina later ran the country for 15 years as the prime minister and was forced to resign and flee on August 5 last year following a mass uprising.
Earlier on September 10 in last year, 18 individuals, who were convicted in a case relating to attack on the train convoy of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, have been released on bail.
The convicts were freed from Rajshahi Central Jail following a bail order issued by Pabna Additional District Judge Court-2.
On September 23 in 1994, Sheikh Hasina was travelling from Khulna to Saidpur by train and addressed several rallies at different railway stations on the way.
According to the case statement, as the train reached Paksey station in Ishwardi, it came under attack. Crude bombs were hurled and shots were fired. The attack continued until the train reached Ishwardi station. Many were injured while the Awami League president was unhurt.
