BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been exempted from three criminal cases filed in connection with deadly arson attacks in Cumilla’s Chauddagram during political unrest in 2015.
The cases, including two related to a fatal petrol bomb attack and one involving a burning of a covered van, were withdrawn on the grounds of insufficient evidence and their classification as politically motivated.
Cumilla’s public prosecutor Kaimul Haque Rinku confirmed the court decisions on Monday, stating that the charges were dropped based on a request for case withdrawal submitted to the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs. The ministry accepted the request and directed that the cases be withdrawn.
Two of the cases were filed under the Explosives Act and murder charges, after eight passengers were killed in a petrol bomb attack on a bus in Jagmohanpur, Chauddagram on February 3, 2015.
Khaleda Zia was among 78 accused named in the police charge sheet, despite reportedly being confined to her Gulshan residence at the time due to a blockade of sand trucks.
Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, a hearing was held at Cumilla`s Additional District and Sessions Judge Court-2, where Judge Shafiqul Islam found no evidence linking Khaleda Zia to the incident and released her from the case.
In the third case, filed over a January 25, 2015 arson attack on a covered van in the Haydarpur area of Chauddagram, Khaleda Zia was later added to the list of 32 accused.
However, the Additional District and Sessions Judge’s Court-1, presided over by Judge Afroza Shiuli, also found no grounds to implicate her and granted exemption.
According to the district prosecutor, all three cases were politically motivated and filed under the previous government. With the exemption orders now effective, there are no pending cases against Khaleda Zia or other central BNP and Jamaat leaders in Chauddagram Police Station.
