33 top Bangladeshi opposition leaders land in jail
Dhaka, 16 May: Thirty-three key leaders of the BNP-led 18-party alliances, including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, were sent to jail after a court here on Wednesday rejected their bail petitions in an arson attack case.
The 18-party alliance after an emergency meeting called a daylong countrywide hartal for Thursday demanding the release of the leaders, safe return of missing BNP leader Ilias Ali and protesting police attacks on pro-BNP lawyers on court premises.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Erfanullah turned down the bail prayers and ordered the accused of the case be sent to jail. The case was filed for torching a bus near the Prime Minister’s Office during hartal on 29 April.
Earlier, complying with the order of a third bench of the High Court, the accused 18-party alliance leaders surrendered before the court in the morning and submitted separate petitions seeking bails.
Denied bails by the Metropolitan Magistrate Court, pro-BNP lawyers moved to the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Shamima Pervin with a petition seeking a review of the decision.
The CMM court, however, felt embarrassed and refused to hear the petition.
Later, the opposition leaders were sent to Dhaka Central Jail in five prison vans at about 4:15pm.
They are BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee members MK Anwar, Dr Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Goyeshwer Chandra Roy, and Brigadier General (retd) ASM Hannan Shah, ex-Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, LDP chief Colonel Oli Ahmed, BNP joint general secretary Aman Ullah Aman, BNP leaders Ruhul Kuddus Talukdar Dulu, AKM Fazlul Haque Milon, Nazim Uddin Alam, and Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, MP.
Swechchhasebak Dal president Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, and general secretary Mir Sharafat Ali, Sapu, Chhatra Dal president Sultan Salauddin Tuku general secretary Amirul Islam Khan Alim, and organising secretary Anisur Rahman Khokon, Juba Dal leaders SM Jahangir Hossain Sardar, Rafiqul Islam Majnu, and Saiful Islam Nirob, BJP Chairman Andalib Rahman Partha, Swechchhasebak Dal leader Yasin Ali, Jagpa President Shafiul Alam Pradhan, 18-party alliance leader Sheikh Shwakat Hossain Nilu, DU Chhatra Dal convener A Matin, JCD leaders Habibur Rashid Habib, and Kamal Anwar Ahmed Litu, BNP leaders Abul Bashar, Anwaruzzaman Anwar, Laxmipur district unit BNP leader Lutfur Rahman alias L Rahman, BNP leaders Solaiman and Yunus Mridha.
Many pro-BNP lawyers and BNP leaders and activists who thronged the court area following the surrender of the 18-party lay down in front of the police vans carrying the opposition leaders to the jail and chanted anti-government slogans and demanded their release.
Meanwhile, at least 25 people were injured in a clash between pro-BNP lawyers and opposition activists and police in the court area following the court order.
Police said the clash erupted in the Metropolitan Magistrate Court area at about 2:15 pm when the lawyers and activists of opposition party tried to create chaos in the area.
At one stage, they locked into scuffles with the law enforcers and continued chanting anti-government slogans. Later, police charged batons on the demonstrators who retaliated with brickbats, leaving 25 people injured from both sides.
A chase and counter-chase took place during the clash, police said.
Security has been beefed up in and around the court premises to ward off any untoward incident.
Meanwhile, miscreants torched three buses in the city’s Karwan Bazar, Pallabi and Razarbagh areas following the incident at about 3pm.
Besides, local BNP called dawn-to-dusk hartals in 16 northern districts, including, Sirajganj, Natore, Thakurgaon and Pabna, for Thursday in protest against the sending of their leaders to jail.
UNB Chittagong correspondent reports: The city unit of BNP called a daylong hartal for Thursday demanding the release of the opposition leaders.
Background
The 18-Party alliance enforced countrywide general strike on 29 and 30 April protesting the disappearance of BNP leader M Ilias Ali and his driver. A vehicle was torched near the PMO and crude bombs were hurled at the Secretariat compound during the hartal hours on 29 April.
Tejgaon police filed a case against 45 leaders and activists of the BNP-led 18-party alliance for torching a vehicle near the PMO on the night of 29 April.
On the same day, Shahbagh police lodged another case against 28 opposition leaders in connection with the bomb blasts at the secretariat, making Mirza Fakhrul the principal accused.
The same trial court on May 13 fixed 21 May to decide whether it will indict the 45 leaders and activists of the 18-party alliance in the vehicle torching case.
Earlier, on Thursday, inspector of the Detective Branch of Police Nurul Amin, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet against 45 leaders and activists of the BNP-led 18-party alliance, including Fakhrul, in the case.
Later, the case filed with Tejgaon police was shifted to the DB police.
On 7 May, when pro-BNP lawyers moved to the HC seeking bail for the accused, presiding judge Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury granted all the accused, including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, anticipatory bails till submission of police reports in the two cases, and issued a rule upon the government to explain as to why the accused should not be granted regular bails.
Differing with the presiding judge’s order, co-judge M Nazrul Islam Talukder asked all the accused-petitioners to surrender before the trial court for bails within a week and also asked the police not to harass them until then.
On 10 May, Chief Justice M Muzammel Hossain sent the bail petitions of the opposition alliance leaders to the third bench of the High Court since two judges of a division bench earlier passed split orders on the petitions.
The third bench of the High Court ordered the opposition leaders to surrender before the trial court by 16 May in the case. The one-judge bench of Justice Mohammad Anwarul Haq passed the order in the afternoon.
The HC also ordered the law enforcers not to arrest or harass the accused until they appear before the lower court on 16 May.
The bench on Monday also granted ad-interim bail to the 18-party alliance leaders till submission of the police report in another case filed for hurling bombs at the Secretariat during hartal on 29 April.
Earlier, police arrested BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed and six others in the same case.
BNP MP Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon got bail until 20 May from a trial court. (UNB)
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