A Bangladeshi court on Wednesday sentenced former premier Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman, 50, and 18 others to life imprisonment and 19 others to death sentence in the 2004 grenade attack that killed 24 people and injured 500 others, including the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina survived the August 21, 2004 attack which targetted an Awami League rally. She suffered partial hearing loss and went on to become the prime minister of Bangladesh in 2009.
Rahman, the BNP's senior vice president, was tried in absentia and the court declared him a "fugitive". He lives in exile in London where he sought asylum.
Rahman, two former ministers including Babar and former top police and intelligence officials of the then BNP-led four-party alliance government were among 49 accused in the cases.
Former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar is among 19 people who were sentenced to death by the court on Wednesday.
Investigators said Hasina was the main target of the attack. Hasina was injured in the attack while party's women front chief and former president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman were among the dead.
Investigations found an influential quarter of the then BNP-led government, including Rahman, masterminded and sponsored the attackers—the operatives of militant Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI).
