Judicial inquiry body submits report today
Identifies perpetrators of the August 21 grenade attacks
Staff Correspondent
The one-man judicial inquiry commission headed by Justice Joynul Abedin submits its report today on the August 21 grenade attacks on an Awami League (AL) rally, where it has identified the perpetrators of the grisly carnage, sources said. The sources however declined to say who the probe has identified to have carried out the bombing in an apparent attempt to assassinate Leader of the Opposition and AL President Sheikh Hasina. The report, to be submitted within the extended deadline ending today, specifies where the grenades were thrown from and cites whether the sports utility vehicle that carried Hasina to safety was hit by bullets. Justice Abedin will speak to the media about the report at 11:00am today, according to commission sources. The commission in the report recommends some 30 short- and long-term measures to stop a repeat of such deadly incidents and shore up security measures during political rallies. The report cites the lack of cooperation from the AL in course of the investigation. It also takes a swipe at the private television channels for 'poor' footage of the incident and their 'lack of professionalism'. It also makes recommendations for better filming of such events by the channels in future for the sake of investigation. The commission sought appointment with Hasina to have her account, but was turned down, as the AL questioned the neutrality of the probe body. The party did not allow inspection of the vehicle. Justice Abedin had told The Daily Star on September 25 that he was hopeful of arriving at a decision on the carnage with the information and data that were on hand. The inquiry body, formed at the prime ministerial directive on August 22, will submit the report to the home secretary, not the prime minister, as it received the written orders for initiating the investigation from the ministry, sources said. Officials of the commission secretariat will hand the report to the home secretary. The commission took statements of 123 people including victims, explosives experts, policemen and intelligence officers, retired military officials and doctors who tended to the wounded. Commission sources dismissed speculations in a section of the press that the commission in its report will blame the incident on the AL. Justice Abedin, meanwhile, told the BBC Bangla Service last night that the commission took into account who might have carried the incident and who would have been benefited from it. "We considered the domestic and foreign aspects relating to the attack," he said.
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