BNP stage demo at Naya Paltan protesting verdict against Tarique, Zubaida

Hundreds of BNP leaders and activists are staging a demonstration in front of their Naya Paltan central office protesting a lower court verdict against party acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a graft case.

The BNP leaders and activists started gathering in the area since 1:00pm on Wednesday amid the huge presence of law enforcers.

As the court delivered the verdict, the BNP followers along with party senior leaders, including its vice chairman Barkatullah Bulu, chairperson’s advisers Amanullah Aman, Abdus Salam, and senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, brought out a procession towards Nightingale crossing from Naya Paltan around 4:05pm.

They are shouting slogans that they don’t accept the "verdict of Sheikh Hasina". 

Meanwhile, Tarique was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment while Zubaida Rahman to three years’ in the graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2007.

Judge Md Asaduzzaman of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court handed down the verdict against Tarique and Zubaida who have long been staying in London.

The court also fined Tarique Tk 30 million and Zubaida Tk 4.5 million.

Meanwhile, a group of pro-BNP lawyers has also been staging a demonstration in the Dhaka Court area since morning.

Earlier on Tuesday, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir feared that their acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman could be sentenced in the graft case by a ‘dictated’ verdict as per a blueprint of the government.