Two central Hefajat leaders remanded
A Dhaka court yesterday placed three Hefajat-e-Islam men, including two its central leaders, on a five-day remand in connection with the mayhem in the capital in May 2013.
They are Hefajat-e-Islam assistant organising secretary Mufti Shakhawat Hossain Razi, assistant secretary general Maulana Monzurul Islam Afendi and activist Mufti Fakhrul Islam.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan passed the order after Investigation Officer Harun-Or-Rashid, an inspector of Detective Branch (DB) of police, produced the trio with a ten-day remand prayer in a case filed with Paltan Police Station, court sources said.
The three accused were arrested from different areas of the capital on April 14.
The same day, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Syeed placed Hefajat-e-Islam assistant publicity secretary Mufti Sharifullah, on one day remand after Ayan Mahmud, an inspector of Jatrabari Police Station and also the investigation officer of the case, produced him before the court with a seven-day remand prayer in a case filed under the Special Powers Act with Jatrabari Police Station on May 6, 2013.
Sharifullah was arrested from Mir Hazirbagh area of Jatrabari in the capital on April 13.
On May 5, 2013, thousands of members of Hefajat, a Qawmi madrasa-based Islamist organisation, clashed with law enforcers and ruling Awami League men, turning Motijheel and Paltan areas into a battlefield.
They set fire to hundreds of shops, vehicles and police outposts and looted stores, including those with Islamic books. Clashes also took place in other districts in the following couple of days.
A total of 83 cases were filed in seven districts including in Dhaka, accusing 3,416 named and 84,796 unnamed people. Many of the accused were from the Hefajat, Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP.
Only one of the cases has been disposed of, in Bagerhat. All the accused were acquitted as neither the police nor the prosecutors could prove them guilty of the charges of attempted murder, arson and vandalism, according to police.
Police have pressed charges in 18, and gave final reports in two other cases. Investigations of 62 other cases are yet to be pressed before the court.
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