The investigative officer of the 2015 Hoseni Dalan blast case has made a great mistake during the investigation and showed negligence on his part, said the court in its observation.
Inspector Shafiuddin and also the IO of the case had made a mistake and as a result, the mastermind of the blast case and attackers both remained out of the purview of the case, said the court.
Earlier in the day, a Dhaka special anti-terrorism court sentenced two men to seven and 10 years in jail, respectively, in the blast case.
Judge Mojibur Rahman of the Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal handed down the punishment to Arman alias Monir (10 years) and Kabir Hossain (seven years) in the case filed over the bomb blast at Hoseni Dalan during the Tajia procession preparations ahead of the holy Ashura in 2015.
Besides, the prosecution failed to prove the allegations brought against the six accused, who were acquitted from the case, Abu Syed and Rubel Islam Sumon alias Sajib, Chan Mia Omar Faruk alias Chan Mia, Hafez Ahsan Mahmud, Shahjalal Mia and Ahsanullah Mahmud. The IO indeed failed to provide any explanation against them in the chargesheet.
Meanwhile, the IO made Chan Mia, Ahsan, Shahjalal Mia and Ahsanullah accused in the case without any concrete evidence. As a result, they have been going through mental and physical harassment during the trial proceedings.
Following the confessional statements of Kabir Hossain alias Rashed alias Arif and Arman alias Monir, the mastermind of the blast case is Albani and Noman.
Apart from it, the IO in his report said Hiron alias Kamal Al Bani alias Hujja and Abdullah alias Alauddin died in gunfight
The court also imposed a fine of TK 10,000 on each of the two, but acquitted six other accused in this case due to lack of evidence.
All the eight, including the two convicts, were members of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
On October 23, 2015, five members of JMB triggered a bomb blast at Hoseni Dalan that killed two people and injured hundred others.
A case was initially filed at the city’s Chawkbazar police station and later it was handed over to the Detective Branch (DB) for investigation.
In October, 2016, Md Shafiuddin Sheikh, inspector of DB (south), submitted a chargedheet in the case accusing 10 militants of the crime, after getting approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
On May 31, 2017, a court framed charges against the 10 accused and the official trial in the case began.
On May 14, 2018, the case was transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal where lawyers of two of the 10 accused claimed that they were minors and submitted supporting documents.
Later the court declared the two accused as minors and asked the investigating officer to submit a supplementary chargesheet mentioning them as under-age.
Their cases are currently under trial at the juvenile court.
Of the initial eight accused JMB members in the case — Omar Faruq Manik, Hafiz Ahsan Ullah Mahmud, Sahjalal Mia, Chan Mia, Kabir, Rubel Islam alias Shajb, Abu Sayeed alias Solayman, and Arman — three, including the convicts, gave confessional statements to the court.
The court also recorded statements of 31 witnesses in the case.
Source: United News of Bangladesh