Ramna blast 14 Huji men chargesheeted

The CID police finally submitted the charge sheet against 14 members of the disbanded militant outfit Harkatul Jihad in Ramna bomb attack case to the CMM court after more than seven and a half years since the attack was launched on April 14, 2001, the Pahela Boishakh.

CID Inspector Abu Hena Mohammad Yusuf, who is the 7th Investigation Officer (IO) in the case, submitted the charge sheet to the CMM court at about 9:30am against 14 members of banned Islamic group Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HUJI).

At a press briefing yesterday at CID Headquarters, Additional Inspector General Mohammad Javed Patwari said some 22 HUJI members were directly involved in the bomb blast but they charge sheeted 14 of them as full addresses of eight HUJI members were not found.

The charge sheeted accused in the case are Mufti Abdul Hannan Munshi alias Abul Kalam, Arif Hasan Suman alias Abdur Razzak, Moulana Akbar Hossain alias Helaluddin, Shahadath Ullah alias Jewel, Moulana Abu Taher, Moulana Abdur Rauf, Moulana Mohammad Tajuddin, Moulana Abdul Hannan Sabbir, Moulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar, Moulana Abu Bakar alias Selim Hawlader, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Moulana Yahiya and Mufti Abdul Hye.

Among the accused persons in the case, Mufti Abdul Hannan Munshi, Arif Hasan Suman, Moulana Akbar Hossain, Jewel, Moulana Abu Taher and Abdur Rauf were arrested. But eight others are still absconding.

Patwari said after getting their full addresses the CID police would submit a supplementary charge sheet against them.

Describing the bomb blast, the CID chief said the HUJI members had planned the attack from their head office and Saatgambuz Mosque, both located at Mohammadpur in the city.

Patwari said Suman, Jewel, Johny and Sujan carried the bombs in a yellow taxicab and entered the park through the gate adjacent to the National Tennis Complex, identifying themselves as decorators at about 4:00am on the day. Suman, Jewel and Johny planted the bombs at the spot.

"When the celebration of Bengali New Year started, Johny exploded the bombs by pressing the remote control that killed some 10 people," he said.

Responding to a query, Patwari said the cost in making those powerful bombs was borne by HUJI as they considered the New Year celebration as anti-Islamic.

Patwari said the bombs were supplied by Moulana Tajuddin, who also supplied the grenades for August 21, 2004, attack on a Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue. Tajuddin is the younger brother of former BNP Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu.

The CID officials said, though the names of 22 accused persons had been found in course of the long-drawn probe, eight got dropped as their full particulars were missing in the case documents.

In case any of the eight absconding persons whose names have been dropped from the charge sheet gets arrested, their names may be added to the list of the accused, he said.

The eight dropped are Shujan, Maulana Nooruddin alias Noorullah, Abdul Jabbar, Omar Faruque, Johnnie, Zakaria, Abdullah and Abdul Halim.

Following the arrest of Arif Hasan Suman by the CID's Assistant Superintendent of Police Fazlul Kabir on charges of his involvement in the August 21 grenade attack case, a number of clues to the Ramna bomb attack case were found.