Police ordered to probe allegations against Zia

BANGLADESH: A Bangladeshi court has asked police to investigate allegations that former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia ordered a grenade attack on an opposition rally that killed 24 people in 2004, a lawyer said.

Zia’s bitter rival, ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was addressing the rally in central Dhaka when the attack occurred.

Hasina escaped unhurt, but at least 24 people were killed and dozens injured.

The court’s order Tuesday came as Badar Aziz Uddin, a member of Hasina’s Awami League party who was hurt in the attack, accused Zia and 27 others of plotting to kill Hasina and her top aides.

“The court has asked police to investigate the charges and submit a report to it as soon as possible,” said Uddin’s lawyer, Parimol Biswas. There was no immediate reaction from Zia or the 27 others named in the case, including four former ministers.

Zia was prime minister at the time of the grenade attack, considered one of the country’s worst on a political rally.

Police made little headway during a probe Zia’s government ordered into the attack.

Hasina, meanwhile, is facing murder charges linked to political violence that occurred after Zia ended her five-year term in October 2006 ahead of national polls. Street clashes between rival political activists left more than 30 people killed following Zia’s exit.

A interim government, backed by the country’s influential military, took over in January to quell the violence. The election planned for Jan. 22 was postponed.

Dhaka, Wednesday, AP