(MENAFN- Gulf Times) DPA/Dhaka
An arrest warrant has been issued for former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia in relation to charges of firebomb attacks on a bus, allegedly by her supporters, that killed eight passengers two years ago, officials said yesterday.
A court in eastern Comilla district issued the warrant after investigators pressed charges against Zia, also the chief of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and 77 other activists for the attack, prosecutor Mostafizur Rahman said.
Investigators said eight passengers of the bus were killed after activists of the BNP and its allies threw firebombs at it in Chauddagram, nearly 110km northeast of the capital, Dhaka, on February 3, 2015.
The attack was carried out amid a nationwide transport blockade called by the party to demand the resignation of the government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
At least 130 people were killed and many others injured across Bangladesh in a spate of violence, mostly petrol bomb attacks on vehicles, after Zia's party called a transport blockade.
Zia, who is now on a private trip to London, was accused of inciting her supporters to create chaos during anti-government protests, investigator Nuruzzaman Howladar said.
Her party, which staged a demonstration in Comilla after the court order, trashed the allegation, saying the charges were politically motivated.
Zia was granted bail last year after a Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant on similar charges related to yet another firebomb attack on a bus by her supporters near Dhaka on January 23, 2015.
Zia, who was prime minister for two terms, is also facing other charges in pending graft cases.
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