A Habiganj court today issued arrest warrant against 11 people including Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury and BNP leader Harris Chowdhury in former finance minister SAMS Kibria murder case.
After receiving the supplementary charge sheet from Criminal Investigation Department, Senior Judicial Magistrate Rashid Ahmed Milon passed the order.
The court came up with the order after CID Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Meherunnesa Parul, investigation officer of the case, filed a petition seeking arrest warrant for the accused.
On November 12, the CID submitted the supplementary charge-sheet against 35 people, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Harris and Sylhet Mayor Ariful Haque, in the murder case.
Parul submitted the charge sheet incorporating the names of 11 more accused in the third supplementary charge sheet on that day.
The court has fixed January 8, for the next hearing of the case.
Soon after the order, clashes between Jubo League and Jatityatabadi Jubo Dal activists took place on the court premise that left at least 15 to 20 people injured.
Additional police forces were deployed in and around the court area, Nazimuddin officer-in-charge of Habiganj Sadar Police Station told our correspondent.
Those were included afresh in the third charge sheet are Ariful Haque Chowdhury, Harris Chowdhury, Habiganj district BNP general secretary GK Gaus, Sheikh Tajuddin, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Mohammad Ali, Badrul, Muhibur Rahman, Kajal and Hafez Yahiya.
Five people including, Kibria, were killed and 70 others injured in a grenade attack on a public meeting of local Awami League at Baidder Bazar in Sadar upazila on January 27, 2005.
Awami League leader Abdul Mazid Khan filed two cases — one for murder and the other under the Explosives Substances Act — with the Habiganj Police Station the following day.
Assistant Superintendent of CID Munshi Atique submitted a charge sheet against 10 BNP leaders and activists on March 19, 2005.
On June 20, 2011, CID Senior Assistant Superintendent Rafiqul Islam submitted a supplementary charge sheet incorporating the names of 14 more people, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Mufti Hannan, following a naraji petition filed by the plaintiff.
Upon an appeal by the complainant, the High Court on May 5, 2006 stayed the proceedings of the cases. Following another appeal by the complainant, the tribunal on May 14, 2006 ordered further investigation into the cases.
After further probe, Rafiqul submitted the first supplementary charge-sheet.
However, Asma Kibria, wife of the slain minister, filed a petition with a local court expressing no-confidence in the investigation. The court then forwarded the case documents along with the petition to the tribunal concerned.
Later, the tribunal on January 5, 2012 ordered the CID to carry out further probe into the killing.