SYLHET: A court yesterday deferred for eight days the indictment hearing of a trial on a defence plea as most of the accused in the case were not produced on the dock, reports BSS.
"The date has now been reset on July 14," special public prosecutor Advocate Shishir Kumar Kar told newsmen referring to the order of the Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trail Tribunal.
He said the defence prayed for the deferment as only five of the 35 accused were present on the dock while the major suspects including former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar and sacked mayor of Sylhet Ariful Haque Chowdhury did not be appear on the dock.
Kar said Babar could not be produced as he was summoned in another case by a different court while Chowdhury reported sick.
Both the BNP leaders are charge sheeted suspects in the case.
Kibria, an international bureaucrat turned politician, was killed in a grenade attack on January 27 in 2005 near his hometown in Habiganj where he was addressing an Awami League rally at Baidderbazar.
The explosion also killed four other at the scene.
Habiganj district AL general secretary Abdul MAjid Khan filed two separate cases---one for murder and another under explosive act---on the same day.
The trial, however, was delayed as the caretaker government ordered reinvestigation into the case on allegations that the investigation was politically influenced by the past BNP-led four-party alliance government.
Criminal Investigation Department finally submitted a supplementary charge sheet against 35 persons on December 21 after investigating the case for two more times as the family members of the assassinated politician complained that some culprits escaped the previous probes.
Habigabj District and Session Judge M Atabullah sent the case to Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal on June 11 to complete the trial at the quickest possible time.
The tribunal on June 21 fixed July 6 for hearing on the indictment order in the murder case in presence of 20 charge sheeted accused.