2 confessed criminals given shocking bail

Aug 21 Grenade Attack
2 confessed criminals given shocking bail
When the nation is keenly awaiting justice in cases for the grisly August 21 grenade attacks to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to two accused who even confessed to their roles in implementing the terror plan.
Arif Hassan Sumon, who obtained bail from Judge Masdar Hosain’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1, had confessed to a magistrate that he threw two grenades at Hasina’s public rally on August 21, 2004, of which one exploded.
The other accused who obtained bail, Munshi Mohibullah, had confessed that he played a role in planning the attack on Bangabandhu Avenue.
Sumon and Mohibullah are operatives of the banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji). Mohibullah is the brother of top detained Huji leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, the prime charge-sheeted accused along with 21 others in the cases linked to the attack.
Judge Masdar Hosain, who had refused bails to Sumon and Mohibullah and other accused on several occasions earlier, yesterday did not elaborate the grounds for granting them bail.
A few senior lawyers including the chief public prosecutor expressed disappointment over the bail orders.
The prosecution will file appeals within a short time with the higher court against the bail orders.
Advocate Syed Rezaur Rahman, chief state counsel, told The Daily Star that every court has a discretionary jurisdiction to grant bail to any accused. But the August 21 grenade attack cases are very sensational ones. Earlier, the same court recorded statements of 61 prosecution witnesses. Moreover, these two accused gave confessional statements admitting their involvement with the incidents. So, the court should not grant bails to the accused at this stage.
“I shall go to the higher court against the orders after getting certified copies of the orders,” he said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor advocate Mohammad Abdullah Abu also told The Daily Star that the trial court should not grant bail to the accused considering the depth of the offences brought against them.
Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder said the cases are very much sensational and the court should not grant bails to the accused at this stage of trial even though the court has discretionary jurisdiction to grant bail to any accused.
On condition of anonymity, a litigant said no accused should be detained in jail custody if the accused in the grenade attack cases get out on bail.
During the hearing on the bail petitions, Sumon’s lawyer advocate Aminul Goni Titu argued that his client’s name was not in the first information report (FIR) and that he did not implicate himself even though he had given confessional statement.
Mohibullah’s lawyer told the court that his client, whose name was also not in the FIR, was implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy.
The prosecution opposed the bail petitions, saying the two along with six others, including Huji chief Mufti Hannan, had confessed to their involvement with the grenade attack.
After the hearing, the judge granted bails to Mohibullah and Sumon and rejected the bail petitions of detained former deputy minister and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu and four others.
Details of the court orders could not be known immediately.
The same court on August 3 ordered further investigation into the cases after the prosecution submitted petitions on June 25 this year.
BACKGROUND
Even though the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina escaped injuries, the attack left 24 Awami League leaders, including President Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, dead and 300 others injured.
A day after the grenade attack, police filed two cases–one for murder and another under the Explosive Substances Act–with Motijheel Police Station.
Before submission of the charge sheets, the nation witnessed drama during the rule of the BNP-Jamaat government centring investigation into the grisly attack.
Three former CID investigation officers are now facing charges for misdirecting the investigations.
The charge sheet, accusing 22, was submitted before the court last year but the investigators could not find out the sources of the grenades used in the attack.
CONFESSION
In his confessional statement, Sumon said he attended the meeting arranged in Kajol’s house at Merul Badda on August 20, 2004 to plan the attack.
He said he heard every detail of the attack preparations.
After Fazr prayer on August 21, Sumon left for the rally on Bangabandhu Avenue with two grenades, he said in his statement.
CID investigation officer ASP Fazlul Kabir in the charge sheet quoted the confessional statement of Suman.
Mohibullah in his confessional statement said he was present when the plan to carry out the grenade attack was made on August 20. He said Mufti Abdul Hannan, Maulana Abu Sayeed, Maulana Abu Jandal, Jahangir Alam, Masud, Iqbal, Babu and Bulbul also attended the meeting.

Courtesy of The Daily Star