Mahbub, Milon remanded
A Dhaka court yesterday placed BNP leaders Khandaker Mahbub Hossain and Fazlul Haque Milon on a two-day remand each in an “attempted murder” case.
The court also sent the party's vice-chairperson Selima Rahman to jail after rejecting her remand and bail prayers.
Earlier in the day, the BNP leaders were shown arrested in the case filed for “attempted murder” of a deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Ramna division.
The court directed police to interrogate Khandaker Mahbub and Milon with caution. It also asked the police to quiz Selima Rahman at the jail gate within five days, if necessary.
On Tuesday, police picked up Selima, organising secretary Fazlul Haque Milon, and Khaleda Zia's adviser Khandaker Mahbub in the capital.
Shah Mujahidul Islam, sub-inspector of Ramna Police Station, filed the case on January 5, a day after miscreants hurled several crude bombs at the office of DC Maruf Hossain Sardar on New Circular Road.
Thakur Das Malo, SI of Ramna Police Station and investigation officer of the case, prayed to the court for granting seven days' remand to each of the accused.
In the remand prayer, the IO said the investigation revealed that the three leaders were involved in instigating their party men to hurl crude bombs at the DC office to create anarchy and panic.
They were also involved in creating panic among the voters so that the latter could not go to the polling centres to cast their votes, the IO said.
Therefore, they need to be grilled to find out information on explosives, bomb making substances, and the sources of money used in making the bombs, the IO added.
Defence lawyers submitted separate bail petitions including the cancellation of the remand prayer, and said Mahbub Hossain is a guardian of 42,000 lawyers who cannot commit such offences.
Two others are also law-abiding citizens, the lawyers said, adding that the names of their clients were not included in the first information report of the case.
Therefore, the lawyers said, they had prayed to the court to grant bail to their clients cancelling the remand prayer.
After hearing both the sides, Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Haque passed the remand order.
Soon after the order, pro-BNP lawyers brought out a procession at the courtroom and on the court premises demanding the cancellation of the order.
The activists of BNP-led 18-party alliance hurled at least 10 crude bombs at the office of Ramna DC around 9:30pm on Saturday, a day before the 10th parliamentary election.
In the case, Mujahidul claimed that the opposition men blasted the bombs in a bid to kill the DC and other policemen posted at the office, and foil the January 5 general election.
Selima, sister of Rashed Khan Menon -- a top leader in the ruling alliance, was picked up from her Gulshan residence.
Mahbub, vice-chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council and a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), was picked up near the Jatiya Press Club. Milon was detained while holding a meeting at the opposition chief whip's business office in Baridhara.
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