Pabna, February 12, (V7N) – Five more BNP leaders who were acquitted from death sentences in the Sheikh Hasina assassination attempt case were released from prison in Pabna's Ishwardi. They were freed on Tuesday afternoon, with four of them released from Rajshahi Jail and one from Pabna Jail.

The leaders released from Rajshahi Jail include: Moklesur Rahman Bablu, former mayor of Ishwardi and central BNP member, AKM Aktaruzzaman, former general secretary of Ishwardi Municipality BNP, and Shamsul Alam, former municipal commissioner.

Azizur Rahman Shaheen, former president of the Ishwardi Upazila volunteer team

Additionally, from Pabna Jail, Rezaul Karim Shaheen, former president of Ishwardi Upazila Chhatra Dal and former VP of Ishwardi Government College, was also freed.

"BNP leader Moklesur Rahman Bablu receives a warm welcome with flowers from party activists after his release from Rajshahi Jail." Photo: V7N

During their release, various leaders from Pabna District BNP and Ishwardi BNP, along with family members, were present. They welcomed the freed leaders with flowers, and many broke down in tears upon reuniting with their loved ones.

Earlier on Monday, February 10, three other BNP leaders from Ishwardi, who had also been acquitted from death sentences in the same case, were released from Pabna Jail. These include:

Zakaria Pinto, former general secretary of Ishwardi Municipality BNP, Shahidul Islam Atol, a leader of Ishwardi Municipality BNP, and Mustafa Nurul Alam Shyamol, a youth leader from Ishwardi BNP.

This case dates back to September 23, 1994, when an assassination attempt on Awami League President Sheikh Hasina occurred while she was traveling by train from Khulna to Syedpur. The train was attacked with gunfire and bombs as it entered the Ishwardi Railway Junction.

A case was filed at the time by the Officer-in-Charge of the Ishwardi GRP (Railway Police), Nazrul Islam. On July 3, 2019, the Special Tribunal-3 in Pabna sentenced nine individuals to death, 25 others to life imprisonment, and 13 to ten years of imprisonment.

After a joint bench of the Appellate Division heard the case on August 29 following the fall of the government, it granted bail to 12 sentenced to 10 years and 18 sentenced to life imprisonment, except for the nine who were sentenced to death. These individuals were later released.

On February 5, the High Court bench, consisting of Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Hamidur Rahman, quashed the lower court's verdict and acquitted all 47 accused, including the nine sentenced to death.

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