The arrest warrant issued against BNP's Acting Chairman, Tarique Rahman, in the 21st August grenade attack case has been withdrawn by the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1.

On Monday (February 17), following the instructions of the High Court, Judge Mohammad Rafiqul Islam of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1, acting on his own initiative, passed the order to withdraw the arrest warrant. The defense lawyer, Abdur Rashid Molla, confirmed the matter.

On December 1, in the widely discussed case, the High Court acquitted all the accused, including Tarique Rahman, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutful Zaman Babar, who had been sentenced to death. The verdict was delivered by the High Court bench consisting of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain.

In the ruling, the High Court stated that the trial of the 21st August grenade attack case was illegal and that the chargesheet on which the lower court had based its judgment was not legally acceptable.

It is worth mentioning that on October 10, 2018, the Judicial Court sentenced former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutful Zaman Babar, former Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pinto, and 19 others to death in the 21st August grenade attack and murder case. Meanwhile, BNP's Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, Khaleda Zia's political secretary Haris Chowdhury, BNP leader Kazi Shah Moazzem Hossain Kaykobad, and 19 others were sentenced to life imprisonment.

On November 27 of the same year, the verdict from the judicial court was submitted to the High Court's Death Reference Section, along with necessary documents.

On the evening of August 21, 2004, a grenade attack was carried out during an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. The attack resulted in the deaths of 24 people, including Awami League Women’s Affairs Secretary Ivy Rahman. Several hundred Awami League leaders and activists, including Sheikh Hasina, were injured in the attack.