Assault on Navy Officer: Police press charges against Erfan Salim
Detectives yesterday pressed charges against lawmaker Haji Salim's son Mohammad Erfan Salim and four others in a case filed over the assault and attempted murder of a Navy officer in October last year.
Sub-inspector Mominul Haque of the Detective Branch of police submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka.
Others named in the charge sheet include Erfan's bodyguard Zahidul Mollah, chauffeur Mizanur Rahman and protocol officer of Madina Group AB Siddique Dipu.
Earlier, Erfan and Zahidul were placed on a three-day remand each on October 28 last year. Each of them were placed on a two-day remand for a second time on November 1.
According to the case filed by navy officer Wasif, an SUV, with the plate "Dhaka Metro-Gha 11-5736", rear-ended his motorcycle in the capital's Dhanmondi when he and his wife were returning to their Dhaka Cantonment home from Nilkhet around 7:45pm on October 25.
A man then stepped out of the SUV and verbally abused them and left the spot. When the vehicle stopped at a traffic light, officer Wasif knocked on its window and introduced himself. At that, the occupants of the vehicle stepped out and started hurling abuse and assaulting him, the complaint said.
When his wife tried to save him, they also assaulted her too and left the scene, abandoning the vehicle.
Video clips of the incident caught by several bystanders went viral on social media. In one of the clips, an injured Wasif is seen describing the incident to bystanders.
Erfan and his bodyguard Zahidul were sentenced to one year in prison the next day for illegally possessing walkie-talkies and foreign liquor, after Rab officials led by an executive magistrate raided Haji Salim's building Chan Sarder Dada Bari on Debidas Ghat Lane in the capital's Chawkbazar area.
Erfan was granted ad-interim bail later.
On January 5 this year, Chawkbazar police submitted the final reports in the arms and drugs cases to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka.
The final report said police did not find evidence supporting the allegations against Erfan in the two cases.
However, Erfan's bodyguard Md Zahidul Mollah was charged with possession of an illegal firearm and narcotics.
On February 8, Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of the Special Tribunal-1 of Dhaka fixed February 18 to hold a hearing on the final report.