BNP leaders Altaf, Hafiz get 21 months in jail

A court in Dhaka has sentenced BNP Vice-Chairmen Air Vice Marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed to 21 months in jail in a case of police obstruction.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury delivered the verdict on Thursday, BNP lawyer Zia Uddin Zia confirmed.

The court also gave Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) leader Major (retd) Md Hanif the same jail sentence.

They received 21 months' imprisonment under two separate sections of the Penal Code and a fine of Tk 5,000 each. Failure to pay the fine will result in another month in jail.

Five other accused - MA Awal Khan, Md Russel, Moinul Islam, Md Babul Hossain alias Babu and Md Alamgir Hossain alias Razu - were jailed for three and a half years and fined Tk 5,000 each.

However, eight other accused were acquitted as they were found not guilty.

The case statement said the accused were involved in obstructing police and attacking them from an unlawful rally in Mohakhali of the capital Dhaka on June 4, 2011. They were also charged with vandalizing and torching vehicles on the road.

JA/SU