Removal of statue: 4 protesters shown arrested, produced before court

Four persons, who were picked up while protesting the removal of the statue of Lady Justice from the Supreme Court premises yesterday, have been produced before a Dhaka court showing them arrested in a case filed by Shahbagh police.

Police filed the case against 140 persons mentioning the name of the four persons last night on charges of illegal gathering, preventing law enforcers from discharging their duties and an attempt to kill them, said Abul Hasan, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station.

The four accused are: Liton Nandi, general secretary of Bangladesh Students’ Union (BSU), Morshed Halim, president of its Dhaka College unit, Joy, an activist of BSU and Arif Noor, a central committee member of Udichi.

Sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station Mirza Badrul Hasan produced them before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Satyabrata Shikder today with a “forwarding report” in which he appealed to the court to confine them in jail until the investigation completes.

Read More: Cops silence protest over statue removal

The court may hear the case later in the day.

The statue of Lady Justice was taken down in the late hours of Thursday night, a month after Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam demanded its removal from the Supreme Court premises.

Hours after the removal of the statue, police in the capital yesterday swung into action against demonstrators protesting the removal, which they see as "surrender to radical Islamists".

Read Also: Why, how it was removed

At least 20 people were injured as police fired tear gas canisters and water cannons to disperse several hundred protesters near the High Court Mazar around noon.

The statue's removal sparked protests also outside the capital, while people turned to social media to express their anger and frustration over it.