By Mizan Rahman
Dhaka

A court in southwestern Satkhira city of Bangladesh yesterday jailed four local leaders of opposition BNP, including Kalaroa municipality mayor Aktarul Islam, in connection with the attack on the convoy of the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina in Kolaroa sub-district on August 30, 2002.
Rejecting the bail petitions of the BNP leaders, district and sessions judge Amirul Islam sent them to jail when they surrendered before the court yesterday.
The four BNP men include Kalaroa municipality mayor and BNP’s student affairs secretary Aktarul Islam, general secretary of Kalaroa sub-district unit BNP Abdur Rakib, its joint secretary Mafizul Islam and Altaf Hossain.
According to the case statement, on August 30 in 2002, the convoy of Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader, came under attack allegedly by BNP leaders and activist on Satkhira-Jessore road in Kolaroa while she was visiting a rape victim.
The attackers fired gunshots to kill Hasina but she survived the assassination attempt while others accompanying her sustained injuries.
Several journalists were also assaulted during the incident.
Failing to lodge a case with the local police station, freedom fighter commander and Awami League leader Moslem Uddin filed a case with a Satkhira magistrate’s court against 27 BNP men in connection with the gun attack.
The case was dismissed after former lawmaker Habibul Islam Habib and several local journalists gave deposition before the court that no incident of attack took place in Satkhira.
In 2013, the plaintiff filed a petition with the high court (HC) seeking reinvestigation into the incident and the HC then sent the matter to the lower court.
As per the lower court order, a case was filed against 27 people with Kalaroa police station on October 27, 2014, 12 years after the incident.On May 5, police submitted charge-sheet against 50 people, including lawmaker Habib, in connection with the attack.