August 21st Grenade Attack Case: All Accused including Tarique Rahman Acquitted

The Appellate Division has upheld the acquittal of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and former Home Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar in the August 21st grenade attack case. At the same time, the High Court order directing the Home Ministry to conduct a re-investigation has been quashed. A six-member bench led by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed passed the order on Thursday (September 4) morning. The observation of the verdict said that the confessional statements of 12 accused including Mufti Hannan did not emerge. The lawyers of the accused expressed satisfaction with the verdict. The High Court acquitted all the accused including Tarique Rahman in the murder and explosives act case related to the August 21st grenade attack on December 1 last year. Later, on March 19, the state appealed against the acquittal of all the accused in the case. After a long hearing, the day was fixed for the order in this regard on Thursday. The Appellate Division dismissed the appeal of the state and gave the order. On the afternoon of August 21, 2004, a horrific grenade attack took place at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. In this, 24 people, including Awami League Women’s Affairs Secretary Ivy Rahman, were killed. Sheikh Hasina and hundreds of Awami League leaders and workers were injured. The BNP-Jamaat coalition government launched an investigation into the horrific attack. Charges were brought against 28 people based on the confession of Harkatul Jihad leader Mufti Hannan. The army-backed caretaker government filed a charge sheet and the trial began. After coming to power in 2009, the Awami League launched a fresh investigation. Mufti Hannan was taken to the TFI cell for 410 consecutive days and his confession was extracted again. Tarique Rahman, Lutfuzzaman Babar, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid and many others were added to the supplementary charge sheet. In this case, in 2018, the trial court sentenced 19 people, including Babar, to death. Tarique Rahman and 19 others were sentenced to life imprisonment. But on December 1, 2024, the High Court overturned the verdict. The verdict said that the supplementary charge sheet and the entire trial process were illegal. The Supreme Court’s verdict on Thursday brought about the final outcome. Tarique Rahman, Lutfuzzaman Babar and all were released.