A special court in Dhaka Wednesday handed a life sentence to the son of former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia in the 2004 Awami League rally attack that killed 24 people and injured 500 others, including the then opposition leader and current PM Sheikh Hasina,


Tarique Rahman, the fugitive son of Zia and presumed political heir, was the prime accused in the decade-old grenade attack case. While Hasina had sustained injuries, Bangladesh Awami Leagues women front chief and former president Zillur Rahmans wife Ivy Rahman was among the dead.


As per the investigations, an influential quarter of the then BNP-led government, including Rahman, had pioneered and sponsored the attackers, the operatives of militant Harkatul Jihad al Islami.
 

Rahman was declared a fugitive and was tried in absentia with the court. At present, Rahman resides in London and is believed to have sought asylum. His immigration status has not been revealed by the British authorities.


Image: Tarique Rahman was tried and sentenced in absentia.