C T Online Desk: A Dhaka metropolitan magistrate court on Monday rejected bail petitions of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, its standing committee member Mirza Abbas and 222 others while the police on Sunday night prosecuted BNP leader Ishraque Hossain and 300 others.
Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Shafiuddin rejected the bail petitions in a case filed over the December 7 clash between police and BNP activists in front of the party’s central office at Naya Paltan in the capital.
BNP leaders Abdus Salam, Khairul Kabir Khokon, Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Fazlul Haque Milon, and Selim Reza Habib were among the other accused whose bail pleas were rejected.
Jatrabari police sub-inspector Nawsher Ali filed the new case with the police station against Ishraque and 18 named and more than 300 other unnamed BNP leaders and activists on charges of assaulting police, blasting crude bombs and vandalism at Jatrabari during the party’s rally on Saturday.
The accused include BNP Dhaka South unit senior joint convener Nabiullah Nabi, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal vice-president Pavel Sikder, BNP leaders Jamsedul Alam Shaymol, Raisul Hasan and Shuvo Hasan Babu, said Jatrabari police station inspector for investigation Mohitul Alam.
New Age court correspondent reported that Fakhrul and Abbas’ bail petitions were rejected for the second time in four days.
The lawyers of the accused submitted the bail petitions on Sunday, and the hearing was set for Monday.
During the hearing, defence lawyers told the court that Fakhrul and Abbas were not even named in the case. Both the leaders and others were not involved in the incident. They were implicated in the case just to harass them. So, they should be granted bail.
The lawyers argued that BNP leader Amanullah Aman and Abdul Qader Bhuiyan Jewel were granted bail in the case and therefore Fakhrul, Abbas and others arrested also should be granted bail.
The court’s public prosecutor, Abdullah Abu, however, opposed the bail petitions, saying that activists had carried out subversive activities as directed by the top BNP leaders, including Fakhrul, Abbas and several others.
After the hearing, the magistrate rejected the bail applications, said Mohiuddin.
The case was filed with the Paltan police station on December 8, a day after the clash broke out at Naya Paltan and the adjacent area, leaving a BNP activist shot dead by police and over a hundred injured.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and several other central leaders were among the 470 leaders and activists arrested from the party office and adjacent areas after the clash.
The Paltan case is being investigated by the Detective Branch of police, which arrested Fakhrul and Abbas from their houses in the middle of the night, just a day before the BNP mass rally on December 10.
Five cases were filed against 3,200 BNP leaders and activists, and two dozen were placed on police remand by the court.
The first information report of the Jatrabari case stated that Ishraque and other accused brought out processions, exploded crude bombs, attacked police and barred them from discharging their duties during the BNP’s December 10 Golapbagh rally.
Police are yet to make any arrest in the case, said inspector Mohitul.
Ishraque was attacked allegedly by activists of pro-Awami League Bangladesh Chhatra League near Jagannath University in Old Dhaka earlier on December 10 when he was distributing leaflets there.
It was also alleged that Ishraque’s car was vandalised and six to seven BNP activists were injured in the BCL attack.
