GOPALGANJ: Charges were framed Thursday against nine men of the banned Islamist outfit Huji, including its detained chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, in the case of attempt to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by planting bombs at Kotalipara helipad in 2000.

Additional District and Sessions Judge and Special Tribunal-2 Judge Golam Murshid passed the order of indictment and fixed August 8 for the next hearing.

Lawyer for the government APP Ranjit Kumar Gama spelt out the charges against Huji leaders Mufti Hannan and Muhibubullah and others.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty and tried to pass the buck to Sheikh Hasina’s party leaders.

Mufti virtually opened Pandora’s box before the court as he claimed that three district leaders of Hasina’s Awami League party--Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, Mahabub Ali Khan and Kibria Daria--made them execute the attack.

“How the charges are made without accusing the masterminds!” he wondered.

Mufti Hannan is detained in a plethora of cases involving violent acts of militancy, including another case of attempt on Hasina’s life through the August 21, 2004 deadly grenade attack on her rally in Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue.            

BDST 1502 HRS JULY 1, 2010