14 BNP leaders jailed in case over obstructing police work
The accused hurled brickbats at law enforcement in Dhaka’s New Market and Nilkhet area during a BNP strike and blockade in 2015, according to the case statement
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A Dhaka court has sentenced 14 BNP leaders to one-and-a-half years in prison in a case over obstructing police attempting to do their duty.
Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ataullah delivered the verdict on Monday.
BNP Joint Secretary General Habib Un Nabi Khan Sohel, Information Affairs Secretary Azizul Bari Helal and Swechchha Sebak General Secretary Mir Sharafat Ali Sopu were among those convicted.
Under Section 143 of the penal code, the convicts were sentenced to six months in prison and fined Tk 2,000 each. Failure to pay will add another month to the sentence.
Meanwhile, the court awarded them one-year imprisonment and fined them Tk 5,000 each under Section 323. They will face two more months in jail for a failure to pay.
The case was filed against the BNP leaders at the capital’s New Market Police Station for obstructing police duty.
The court also issued arrest warrants against the convicts who were still at large at the time of the verdict, Sohel’s lawyers Zakir Hossain Jewel and Rafiqul Islam said.
The accused hurled brickbats at law enforcement in Dhaka’s New Market and Nilkhet areas during a BNP protest and transport blockade in 2015, according to the case dossiers.
Police initiated the case at New Market Police Station over the incident. The law enforcers pressed charges against the 14 BNP leaders, including Sohel, after the investigation.