Assailants proceeded with BNP’s acting chairman fugitive Tarique Rahman’s full support on Aug 21, 2004, the day when an Awami League rally came under a heinous grenade attack, Banned militant outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan said in his confessional statement before a court in 2015.
The statement reads, “Tarique Zia assured us all kinds of help.”
BSS reviewed related case documents ahead of Wednesday’s verdict and put together excerpts from Hannan’s confession in a report published on Tuesday.
The report says, Hannan, by now executed after trial in another case, said he along with Maulana Abdus Salam, Maulana Abdur Rauf, Maulana Tajuddin and Pakistani national Abdul Mazed Butt held a meeting in 2004 at Mohammadpur area and planned to assassinate Sheikh Hasina and other Awami League leaders.
He said Tazuddin took the responsibility of collecting grenades and said, “his brother deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and then state minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar would help us”.
Hannan said they then decided to contact Tarique Rahman and on the next day former BNP lawmaker Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad took them to Hawa Bhaban “where he introduced us to Tarique Zia and Haris Chowdhury”.
“As we sought their help for our operation, Tarique Zia assured us all kinds of help in this regard,” he told in his statement before Dhaka’s additional chief metropolitan magistrate AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuian ahead of his indictment.
Hannan said the assailants came to know in early August, 2004 that Awami League was set to stage an anti-terrorism rally in city’s Muktangan protesting a previous grenade attack in Sylhet, carried out by HuJI.
“We planned to carry out attack on Sheikh Hasina and other Awami League leaders there. We decided to meet again Tareque Zia to execute the plan,” he said. Hannan said they then went to Hawa Bhaban and saw there Haris Chowdhury, Lutfuzzaman Babar, Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid.
He said the then director general of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Brigadier Rezzakul Haider and Brigadier Abdur Rahim and then director general of National Security Intelligence (NSI) were present there as well.
“A little later Tarique Zia appeared there,” Hannan said.
He said the HuJI delegation then explained their assassination plan and “they (Tarique and others) assured us all kinds of help from the administration”.
“Tarique told us, we don’t need to come here (Hawa Bhaban) anymore and asked us to proceed, maintaining contact with Babar and (Salam) Pintu saying they will extend you all cooperation,” Hannan said.
He said the assailants met Pintu and Babar and Pintu’s official residence in Dhanmondi on August 18 where municipal commissioner Arif and transport operator Mohammad Hanif of Hanif Paribahan were present as well.
Pintu and Babar, Hannan said, reassured the assailants of all security arrangements for the killers while they would stage the attack.
He said the assailants collected 15 grenades and Taka 20,000 from Pintu’s house and took those to their militant den in Badda area.
“As planned, on August 21, 2004, we carried out the grenade attack in front of Awami League office (Bangabandhu Avenue),” Hannan added.
Hannan and his associate Shahidul Alam Bipul were hanged for 2004 grenade attack at Hazrat Shahjalal’s shrine in Sylhet and following their execution their names were dropped from the case in line with legal procedure.