The High Court (HC) today extended for one year its earlier order that granted bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a case filed for killing seven people by setting fire on a bus in Cumilla in 2015.

The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice SM Mojibur Rahman passed the order following a petition filed by Khaleda seeking extension of her bail in the murder case.

The case was filed after seven people died and 25-26 others were injured when a bus was torched in Cumilla’s Chouddagram during an anti-government agitation by the BNP-led 20-party alliance on February 3, 2015.

The HC on March 6 this year granted bail to Khaleda Zia for six months in the case.

During the hearing, Barrister Kayser Kamal appeared for former prime minister Khaleda.

Deputy Attorney General Dr Md Bashir Ullah told The Daily Star that Khaleda cannot get released from jail because she is convicted and sentenced to 10 years and seven years’ imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases respectively.

She is yet to secure bail in those two cases, he added.