BNP leader, sentenced to death in Sheikh Hasina murder attempt case, arrested

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Sunday arrested a BNP leader sentenced to death in a case filed for attempting to kill prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 1994.

The arrested, Zakaria Pintu, former general secretary of Pabna’s Ishwardi upazila BNP, was taken to the office of detective branch (DB) of Pabna district police on Monday morning. He was then sent to prison. Zakaria Pintu is from Kacharipara of Piyarakhali in Ishwardi.

Police said on 23 September 1994, the then opposition party leader, presently the prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was going to Syedpur from Khulna by Rupsha Express train. She was supposed to join a rally at Ishwardi. But before the rally stared, bullets were fired and bombs hurled, targeting her at the directive of Zakaria Pintu.

On the day, a case was filed with the Ishwardi GRP police station regarding the attack.

On 3 July 2019, special tribunal court awarded nine, including Zakaria Pintu, death penalty in the case. Apart from this, a court in Kushtia sentenced him to 17-year rigorous imprisonment in an arms case filed with Bheramara police station in Kushtia.

Additional police superintendent of Pabna Masud Alam said a total of 24 cases were filed against Zakaria Pintu who fled to India on 23 July in 2019, a day before the verdict was delivered in the case. He later returned to the country and went into hiding in different districts, including Dhaka. Of the total cases, the arrest warrant was issued in eight cases.

Masud Alam told Prothom Alo that the elite force handed him over to the police after arresting him from Cox’s Bazar. Later, he was sent to jail.