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A Dhaka court on Sunday recorded the testimony of two more prosecution witnesses in the case over the 2018 attack on the convoy of former US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat, bringing the total number of witnesses examined to nine out of 28.
Metropolitan Magistrate Nazmin Akter recorded the depositions of Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASI) Grish Chandra Barman and Azmal Hossain, court bench assistant Touhid Khan confirmed.
The accused, who are currently out on bail, were present in court during the proceedings. Defence counsel Gazi Faisal Islam cross-examined both witnesses after their testimony.
Following the hearing, the court fixed October 14 for recording the testimony of the next witnesses.
The nine accused in the case are former Mohammadpur unit Chhatra League president Naimul Hasan, Mohammad Ishtiaq Mahmud, Firoz Mahmud, Mir Amzad Hossain, Saju Islam, Rajibul Islam, Shahidul Alam Khan, Siam and Oli Ahmed.
According to the case documents, former US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat attended a dinner at the Mohammadpur residence of Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of the civil society organisation Shujan (Citizens for Good Governance), on the night of August 4, 2018.
Her convoy came under attack while leaving the residence after the dinner.
Dr Majumdar filed the case with Mohammadpur Police Station on August 10, 2018.
Police Inspector (Unarmed) Md Abdur Rouf, the investigation officer, submitted a charge sheet against the nine accused on January 18, 2021.
Although the trial began with witness testimony on March 28 in 2022, the court ordered further investigation on December 27 in the same year, after new information emerged during witness depositions.
Following the additional investigation, Assistant Superintendent of Police Rajan Saha of the Detective Branch submitted a supplementary charge sheet on September 19, 2023. The court framed charges against the accused on November 19, 2023, paving the way for the formal trial.