Prime Minister Hasina Wajed, then the main opposition leader, was addressing the rally in Dhaka in August 2004 when the explosion occurred, wounding more than 150 people. Police filed the charges late on Sunday in a Dhaka court, accusing Tareque and several others of plotting the attack, the country's worst case of political violence.

"Investigations conducted in this case showed Tareque Rahman was one of the masterminds of the attack," attorney Abu Abdullah said. If convicted, he faces the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.