Hoseni Dalan blast: Two sentenced to jail
A Dhaka special anti-terrorism court on Tuesday sentenced two men to seven and 10 years in jail, respectively, in the 2015 Hoseni Dalan blast case, reports UNB.
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.
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 23 October, 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 31 May, 2017, a court framed charges against the 10 accused and the official trial in the case began.
On 14 May, 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.