The state on Wednesday filed an appeal against the High Court verdict that had acquitted all accused including BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar in the 21st August grenade attack case.

Mohammad Abdul Jabbar Bhuiya, additional attorney general, filed the appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, said the Attorney General's office.

On 12th January, the High Court acquitted Tarique Rahman, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and Lutfozzaman Babar, ,who had been sentenced to death, along with other accused in case.

The HC bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the judgment.

The grenade attack was carried out on August 21, 2004 in Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue that left 24 people dead nearly 300 others injrued.

On October 10, 2018, a Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal pronounced a verdict in one of the cases (pertaining to murder and explosives).

The tribunal sentenced 19 accused, including Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy education minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death.

Besides, 19 others, including Tarique Rahman, were handed life term imprisonment while 11 accused received various terms of imprisonment and fines.

The judgment was subsequently transferred to the HC in 2018, registered as a death reference case.

The grenade attack on August 21, 2004 prompted the filing of two cases—one for murder and another for explosives—at Motijheel Police Station.

In 2008, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) charged 22 people, alleging that the attack was orchestrated by militants aiming to assassinate Sheikh Hasina and render the Awami League leaderless.

Subsequently, under the Awami League government, further investigation led to the submission of an additional charge sheet, naming 30 people, including Tarique Rahman.