Shawdesh Desk:

Law minister Anisul Huq on Wednesday said that the appeal hearing in the August 21 grenade attack case would start within the next two to four months.

‘The verdict’s paper book is being prepared and it’ll be finalised very soon,’ he told reporters at the Secretariat.

‘It’s taking time since testimonies of 225 witnesses were recorded,’ he explained. ‘We hope the appeal hearing will start within this year.’

On this day in 2004, a grenade attack was carried out on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue when the BNP-Jamaat alliance was in office. Sheikh Hasina, the then leader of the opposition, was apparently the target.

At least 24 people, including AL women affairs secretary and late president Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, were killed. Three hundred others were also injured. Sheikh Hasina escaped the attack unhurt but her hearing was affected badly.

A Dhaka court on October 10 last year sentenced 19 people, including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, to death. Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia, and 18 others were sentenced to life in prison.

Responding to a question about the fugitive convicts, Anisul said, ‘The process to bring them back is on but there’s some complexity.’

He declined to comment when asked about the government’s plan to bring back Tarique.