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It's a plot to kill Nizami

Says Jamaat; 5 hurt as Shibir blasts bomb; BNP to react later

Staff Correspondent
Aghast at the verdict in the 10-truck arms haul cases, the Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday said the judgement is part of the "government's conspiracy to eliminate patriotic political leaders from the country." The BNP said it will give a reaction on the verdict later, while the ruling Awami League expressed satisfaction over the judgement.
Rejecting the verdict, Jamaat acting ameer Maqbul Ahmed in a statement said party Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami was handed death penalty in "staged managed and false cases as part of the government's plan to kill him."
The Jamaat, a key ally of the BNP, vowed to counter the government's conspiracy legally and politically.
Talking to The Daily Star, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said he will later give the party's reaction on the verdict after having consultations with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Now in Thakurgaon, Fakhrul refused to make any immediate comment on the judgement.
BNP LEADERS REACT
Talking to The Daily Star, BNP Vice-chairman Abdullah Al Noman said it was their government that had hauled the arms cache, filed cases and arrested many people in connection with the incident.
"But the present government has used the cases to harass our leaders and the verdict has been delivered accordingly," he mentioned.
BNP chairperson's adviser Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said the government has "politicised" everything, including the judiciary. "Therefore, people have little confidence in the judgment in these sensitive cases,"
he added.
REACTION OF AL
With the verdict in the 10-truck arms haul case, rule of law has been established in the country, Law Minister Anisul Huq said yesterday.
"After this, one will dread to commit a similar crime in future," he told reporters at his secretariat office after a Chittagong court pronounced the verdict in the sensational cases.
The special court handed death penalties to 14 people, including Jamaat chief and former industries ministerMotiur Rahman Nizami and ex-state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, for smuggling firearms.
The verdict, said Anisul, reflects the government's pledge to uphold rule of law in the country.
Asked whether the previous BNP-Jamaat government deserves credit for the arms haul during its tenure, he said the crime was committed by the top level officials of the then government. "The weapons were enough to set up a mini cantonment," he mentioned.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said the verdict has proved that law takes its own course and crime ultimately brings its punishment.
"It's a message to international arms syndicates that Bangladesh is not a place to smug-
gle arms through," she told The Daily Star at her secretariat office.
Asked whether the verdict will boost Bangladesh's ties with India further, the minister said the government has done its job.
On handing death penalty to 14 accused by the court, Matia, also Awami League presidium member, said the judge has delivered the judgement considering the merit of the cases.
The government, she added, did not interference in the court's verdict. The convicts will have the right to appeal against the sentencing in the higher court.
BNP-JAMAAT STAGE PROTESTS
BNP and Jamaat activists brought out processions in Rajshahi and Netrakona yesterday to protest the verdict in the 10-truck arms haul cases, report our correspondents.
In Rajshahi, two photojournalists and three pedestrians received splinter injuries when activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir blasted a cocktail from a procession.
BNP of Madan upazila in Netrakona brought out a procession protesting the death penalty to Lutfozzaman Babar. The former state minister for home is from the upazila.
Local BNP unit also called a 48-hour hartal in the upazila from this morning protesting the judgement.