The government yesterday withdrew a police assault case filed against former Awami League lawmaker Haji Mohammad Selim and 20 others considering it ''politically motivated” and “intended to cause harassment''.
So far, 81 out of 137 criminal cases have been withdrawn by the government on those grounds, said Selim's counsel Pran Nath.
Metropolitan Magistrate Keshab Roy Chowdhury passed the order yesterday after hearing on a petition submitted on January 8 this year by Metropolitan Public Prosecutor (PP) Abdullah Abu for withdrawal of the case.
The same court issued arrest warrants against Selim and others on February 7 this year, as they were absent from the court on eight hearing dates since January 3, 2011.
The court in the order also said that although the accused got anticipatory bail from the High Court, they did not get any bail from the trial court as they did not appear before it despite being summoned repeatedly.
The following day Selim and others appeared before the court and got bail in the case.
Earlier on August 17, 2009, the home ministry recommended withdrawing the case and asked the PP to take the next course of action.
According to the prosecution, a group of AL leaders and activists clashed with the police during a procession in the city's Chawkbazar area on March 23, 2004. The demonstrators threw brickbats at the police and prevented them from discharging their duties.
Following the incident, Khorshed Alam, sub-inspector of Lalbagh Police Station, filed a case against Selim and the others.
The four-party alliance government filed over 137 cases against the accused between 2001 and 2006, sources said.