Eighteen leaders and activists of BNP including Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Barkatullah Bulu and Amanullah Aman were relieved of charges in a case filed against them under the Explosive Substances Act.

On the other hand, the same court accepted charges against BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and seven others in the case.

The court fixed January 31, 2017 for the next hearing of the case.

The case was filed for killing a traffic constable, Ferdous Khalil, after torching a police bus in the capital's Bangla Motor on December 24, 2013 during an anti-government demonstration of the BNP-led of 18-party alliance (now 20-party combine).

The investigation officer on May 4 this year pressed charges against Fakhrul and seven others while dropped names of Aabbas, Gayeshwar and 16 others from the charge sheet as the charges brought against them were not proved.

The IO also appealed to the court to relieve Abbas and 17 others from the charges.