Three leaders of Hefajat remanded

Three leaders of Hefajat-e-Islam were placed on remand for different terms yesterday in two cases filed with Paltan Police Station over the violence in Dhaka on March 26.

Mufti Habibullah Mahmud Quasemi, an executive member of now defunct Hefajat central committee; and Mufti Faisal Mahmud Habibi, former joint secretary general of Hefajat Dhaka city unit, were placed on three-day remand each in a case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jashim passed the order after investigation officer (IO) Kamrul Hasan Talukder, also an inspector of Detective Branch of police, produced the two before his court with a 10-day remand each.

Khondakar Arifuzzaman, deputy office secretary of Dhaka south Jubo League, filed the case against Hefajat leader Mamunul Haque and 16 others with Paltan Police Station on April 6 on charges of torching vehicles, vandalising shops and looting valuables in the Baitul Mukarram area on March 26.

Quasemi was arrested from Dhaka's Bhatara on April 28, while Habibi from Demra the same day.

Quasemi was one of the key organisers of "Rabetatul Waizin Bangladesh", a platform of Hefajat speakers which controls Waz Mahfils across the country, police officials said.

In another case, the same magistrate placed Khaled Saifullah Ayubi, former joint secretary general of Hefajat, on a five-day remand after IO Md Jahidul Islam, a sub-inspector of Paltan Police Station, produced him before the court in a case filed over the violence on the premises of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque on March 26.

Khaled was produced before the court on completion of his five-day remand in another case filed over the violence on March 26, protesting the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He was also shown arrested in two other cases over the 2013 mayhem in Dhaka. Khaled was arrested from Manikganj on April 22.

Meanwhile in Brahmanbaria, six more people were arrested for their involvement in last month's mayhem in the district, raising the total number of arrestees to 391. 

The latest arrests were made from Wednesday morning to Thursday noon, said police.

Between March 26 and 28, hundreds of Hefajat men unleashed havoc by vandalising and torching many government, private establishments as well as trains and railway stations, protesting Modi's visit to Bangladesh.

A total of 56 cases were filed with different police stations in Brahmanbaria. Some 414 named and more than 39,000 unnamed people were made accused in these cases, said Md Roish Uddin, additional superintendent of police in Brahmanbaria.