Babar was in thick of things

Lutfozzaman Babar, in collusion with former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and his brother Moulana Tajuddin, used banned Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) to execute the August 21 grenade attack, said Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sources.

Former BNP state minister for home Babar, who was taken on a fresh remand yesterday for four days, disclosed it during the five-day interrogation by the CID investigators.

Meanwhile, senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Abdul Kahar Akand of CID, also the investigation officer of the case, yesterday told the court the unexploded grenades recovered from the spot could have been the most important evidence with the fingerprints of the criminals, but Babar had arranged to destroy those in a hurry without the court permission.

Abdul Kahar Akand also said Babar did not register the case in the monitoring cell of the home ministry to hide his own criminal acts and save the real culprits. Rather he tried to mislead the case by cooking up a Joj Miah episode.

The CID investigator told the chief metropolitan magistrate's court that as Babar divulged a lot of important information about smuggling of illegal arms, grenades and explosives during interrogation he needs to be put on a further 10-day remand for more information.

Second Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Habibur Rahman Siddique, however, granted a four-day remand.

Huji founder Moulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, also the convenor of Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), is now on a six-day remand in connection with the August 21 grenade attack on an AL rally that killed 23 people and injured over 300 others on Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004.

Huji chief Mufti Abdul Hannan also gets a grilling by the CID officials.