Mufti Izhar, son charge-sheeted

Chittagong police yesterday pressed charges against Hefajat-e Islam nayeb-e-ameer Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury, his son and seven others in a case filed in connection with an explosion at a madrasa.
The blast occurred in a room of a dormitory of Al Jamiatul Ulum Al Islamia Madrasa in port city's Lalkhan Bazar on October 7, 2013. Three people died in the explosion.
Md Lokman, a sub-inspector of Khulshi Police Station, submitted the charge sheet before the court of Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate Mashiur Rahman Chowdhury around 1:30pm.
The other accused of the case are Abdul Hai, Rabibur Rahman, Md Ishak, Monir Hossain, Abdul Mannan, Tafsir Ahmed and Mohammad Junayed.
Mufti Izharul and his son Harun Bin Izhar were made the prime accused in the case, said Rezaul Masud, additional deputy commissioner (prosecution) of Chittagong police.
Izharul, also principal of the madrasa, went into hiding after the blast, he added.
According to the charge sheet, explosives were made and kept at the madrasa for conducting subversive activities and creating panic among people.
After the explosion, police recovered four handmade grenades and huge bomb-making materials like iron caps, cylinders, electric cables and 18 bottles of picric acid from madrasa premises.
Izharul, however, claimed that the explosion originated from a laptop charger while his son Harun claimed that it was from an instant power supply (IPS).

Two cases -- one under explosive substances act and the other for storing acid -- were filed with Khulshi Police Station on October 8, 2013, said SI Lokman.
Later a murder case was filed in connection with the blast, Lokman, also the investigation officer (IO) of the explosion case, added.
Police arrested Harun and his bodyguard Md Junayed from the house of Harun's in-law at Hathazari upazila of Chittagong on October 9.
The IO said 12 people were accused in the explosive case. The charge sheet was submitted against nine people as three other accused -- Nur-un-Nabi, Md Salman and Jobair Ahmed -- succumbed to their injuries at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.