Arguments in Aug 21 Grenade Attack Case begin Oct 23

The arguments of the August 21 grenade attack case will begin on October 23.
Judge Shahed Nuruddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal (STT)-1 on Wednesday at a makeshift court building near the gate of the former Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road set the date of beginning of the argument following recording of deposition of the defence witnesses. The STT recorded statements of 225 prosecution witnesses out of 491 witnesses and 20 defence witnesses.
The gruesome grenade attack was carried out on an anti-terrorism rally of Awami League (AL) at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on August 21 in 2004 aiming at  eliminating   the Awami League leadership during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
The BNP-Jamaat government tried to divert the probe into wrong direction to save the real culprits.
The then CID officials staged a Joj Mia drama by cooking up a story hiding the real fact.
During the last caretaker government's tenure, the first two charge sheets in the August 21 cases - one for murder and another under the Explosive Act - were placed before the court on July 11 in 2008 accusing 22 people, including former deputy minister of BNP-Jamaat alliance government Abdus Salam Pintu and 21 HuJI leaders and activists.
Later on July 3 in 2012, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted two separate supplementary charge sheets in the cases against 30 people after completing a fresh investigation into the matter. With the 30 accused, the number of accused in the cases rose to 52.
Of the charge sheeted accused in the cases, 19 including BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman are still at large.
Eight others including three former inspectors general of police Ashraful Huda, Shahidul Haque and Khoda Box Chowdhury, the first three investigation officers of the case-CID special superintendent Ruhul Amin, and two ex-CID ASPs Munshi Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid, and former DCC ward commissioner Ariful Islam, and Begum Khaleda's nephew Saiful Islam Duke are on the bail.