BANGLADESH

BNP says Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman has been made an accused in Aug 21, 2004 grenade attack case as Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami's Bangladesh operations chief Mufti Hannan named him on 'receiving death threats'.

"The supplementary charge sheet of the case is false," Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a press call on Wednesday.

The opposition party's acing secretary-general showed an application of Hannan where he appealed to withdraw his deposition given in the case and demanded release of those arrested on being named in the supplementary charge-sheet.

"Mufti Hannan's appeal to withdraw his deposition proves that Tarique Rahman and other politicians accused in the case had no ties to the attack. The government named him (in the supplementary charge-sheet) to wreak political vengeance on," he said.

"It's clear by this that the government is not interested in identifying the main brains behind the attack," Fakhrul added.

HuJ) chief Hannan on Tuesday appealed to Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 to withdraw his affidavit given under Section 164 of the Bangladesh Penal Code.

Fakhrul further alleged that Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) threatened Hannan that he would be killed if he did not name Tarique.

Citing Hannan's application, the BNP leader said, "Fazlul Karim and Abdul Kahhar Akhand (investigation officers of the case) often took me (Hannan) to RAB blindfolded. My eyesight has been affected by torture. My right hand and left leg have also been paralysed."

Fakhrul added that the HuJI chief had been remanded altogether for 410 days.

At least 24 people had been killed and over 100 injured in the grenade attack on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on Aug 21. Then the opposition leader Sheikh Hasina had been injured in the deadly blasts.

Police later submitted two charge-sheets, one for the murder and another for explosives use, in the cases.

On further investigation, supplementary charge-sheets in the cases were submitted on July 3 naming senior vice-chairman Tarique and 30 others, including Jamaat-e-Islami secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.

The charge-sheeted accused in the twin cases are now 52.

BNP has been saying that Tarique was named in the charge sheets as part of a plan to bar him from running in the next general election while Awami League alleged that he masterminded the attack that killed incumbent president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman.