A Dhaka court yesterday accepted charges against 251 leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir in connection with a case filed over hurling petrol bombs and torching vehicles in Dhaka on November 2012.

Jamaat leaders Dr Md Shafiqur Rahman and Rafiqul Islam are now on bail, while 40 others were shown fugitives and arrest warrants were issued against them.

Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after scrutinising the case documents and relevant evidences.

The court also directed officers-in-charge (OCs) of different police stations to submit reports on execution of arrest warrants by July 10.

According to the case statement, a group of Jamaat men and activists of its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir allegedly brought out a procession in the capital's Motijheel area on November 5, 2012 demanding immediate release of its leaders, including nine arrested on war crimes charges.

They vandalised some 50 vehicles, torched three motorbikes, a police vehicle and several roadside shops. When police intercepted them, they launched an attack leaving 100 people, including 14 policemen, wounded.

A case was filed against 72 Jamaat and Shibir men and around 300 unnamed persons in this connection.

After an investigation, on November 12 last year Motijheel police pressed charges against 251 people for committing the offences.