HC summons dist judge, PP

The High Court yesterday summoned before it the lower court judge, who had granted bail to five accused in schoolboy Parag Mondol abduction case.
Judge Md Abdul Majid of the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge's Court will have to appear before the court on February 20 by 10:30am to explain why he had granted bail to the accused in this sensational case.
Six-year-old Parag Mondol, a student of KG-I at Heed International School, was abducted at Shuvadda Paschim Para in Keraniganj on November 11, 2012. He was found three days later in Atibazar area of the locality.
According to the reports published in Bangla daily Prothom Alo on Tuesday and yesterday, Judge Abdul Majid granted bail to Aminul Haque alias Jewel Mollah, Alfaz Hossain, Mamun Miah, Rizvi Ahmed Anik and Abul Kashem on different days of January and February.
The HC yesterday in response to a petition directed District Public Prosecutor (PP) Khandaker Abdul Mannan to appear before it on February 20 to explain whether his office had opposed the bail orders at the lower court.
It also issued a rule upon the authorities concerned and the five accused who obtained bail to explain within a week why the bails should not be cancelled.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Mahmudul Hoque came up with the order and rule after hearing the petition filed challenging the bail orders.
Enus Ali Akond, a Supreme Court lawyer, had filed the petition under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) as public interest litigation on Tuesday on behalf of Nazim Ahmed, editor of the weekly Shoptoborno.
The petition stated that the judge had granted bail to the five accused illegally, as there was no legal provision for granting bail in such sensational cases at the stage of investigation.
Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented the government in the court.
Meanwhile, the court of Judge Abdul Majid yesterday rejected a bail petition filed by another accused in Parag abduction case Zahidul Ahsan. It said in the order that Zahidul, now in custody, had given confessional statement before the magistrate.