Pintu's bail prayers rejected, taken on 3-day remand

Former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu being escorted to a prison van yesterday after a Dhaka court placed him on a three-day remand.Photo: STAR

Former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu was yesterday taken on a three-day remand in connection with the grenade attacks on Awami League rally on August 21 in 2004.
A CID team led by ASP Fazlul Kabir arrested Pintu in front of his wife's official residence in the city's Motijheel area on Thursday night.
ASP Fazlul Kabir of CID produced Pintu in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at noon. Seeking a 10-day remand for the ex-deputy minister, the ASP referred to the earlier statement given by Harkatul Jihad (Huji) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, saying that Pintu was one of the masterminds of the attacks.
After hearing, Judicial Magistrate Abdullah Al Mamun granted three days' remand for Pintu.
Earlier on January 3, the joint forces picked up Pintu from the city's Gulshan area and released on January 5.
Talking to reporters, ASP Fazlul Kabir said Pintu was arrested in connection with the grenade attacks. He declined to disclose more for what he said was for the sake of investigation.
Pintu's lawyer Advocate Sanaullah Miah appealed to the court for his bail but the court rejected the appeal.
During the hearing, Pintu told the court that he had no links to the August 21 attacks.
According to CID sources, Pintu's brother Maulana Tajuddin, also a leader of Laskar-e-Taiyeba in Pakistan, had supplied the grenades used in the attacks that left 24 people, including Awami League leader Ivy Rahman, killed and 300 others injured.
Mufti Hannan in his confessional statement before the court had said the attack was planned at Pintu's Dhanmondi residence where Maulana Tajuddin and Maulana Abu Taher were also present.
Tajuddin is presumed to be hiding somewhere in Pakistan or South Africa. CID has sought help of the international police organisation, Interpol, for his arrest.
Investigators said they have reports that the grenades used in the attack were brought from Pakistan.
In an interview over cellphone on January 8, Pintu told The Daily Star that no meeting was held at his residence and he never met Mufti Hannan.
On grenade supply by his brother, Pintu said: "Tajuddin has a relation with Mufti Hannan as they were fellow students at a madrasa in Pakistan. But our family severed relations with Tajuddin long ago."