Attack on Hasina’s motorcade: Ex‑MP Habib, 45 others acquitted
The HC bench of Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Mubina Asaf passed the order
The High Court today (22 October) acquitted all 46 accused, including former BNP MP Habibul Islam Habib, in a case filed over the attack on the motorcade of then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina in Satkhira district on 30 August 2002.
The HC bench of Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Mubina Asaf passed the order.
Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Advocate Aminul Islam appeared for the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Mujibur Rahman represented the state.
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On 18 April 2003, Judge of the Satkhira Special Tribunal‑3 Biswanath Mandal sentenced four people, including former BNP MP Habib, to life imprisonment in the case.
The court also sentenced 42 accused to seven years' jail.
Later, they filed separate petitions seeking acquittal.
In 2002, then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina's convoy came under attack when she was returning to Magura after visiting a freedom fighter's wife in Satkhira's Kalaroa.
Although Hasina survived the attack, at least 12 people — including Awami League leaders and journalists — were injured, according to the case statement.
Three separate cases were filed in this connection in 2014.
Among them, one case was filed under the Penal Code.
On 3 February 2021, the Satkhira Chief Judicial Magistrate sentenced former MP Habib and three others to ten years' jail in the case. The BNP leader was later acquitted, while trial proceedings against the other accused were ongoing.
In 2023, a court sentenced four people, including former MP Habib, to life imprisonment and 44 others to seven years' jail under two cases — one under the Arms Act and another under the Explosive Substances Act.
