A high-profile lawyers' investigation into the August 21 grenade attack on Awami League rally questioned the role of the police on that day and observed that the police made way for the attackers to leave the venue immediately after the explosions. Instead of helping the victims, the policemen showed apathy and themselves moved to safe distance, observes a report published by six senior lawyers.
Supreme Court Bar Association President Rokanuddin Mahmud headed the investigation. The grisly grenade attack on the AL rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital killed 22 people including AL leader Ivy Rahman and wounded over 200. Immediately after the blasts, police lobbed huge teargas shells making the spot dark with smoke that allowed the attackers to escape, notes the report signed by Dr Kamal Hossain, Abdul Malek, Amir-Ul Islam, Dr M Zahir and Muhammad Ayenuddin.
Presenting the report at a press conference on the Bar Association premises yesterday, the lawyers concluded 'beyond doubt' that Awami League chief and Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina was the prime target of the attackers. Other AL leaders present at the rally were also the killers' specific targets, they observed.