HC stays 5 BNP leaders' remand

The High Court today stayed a lower court order that allowed police to quiz five BNP leaders, including Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Miah, on a eight-day remand in connection with hartal violence.

The court also directed the authorities to send them to jail immediately in connection with the cases filed for “attempted murder of cops and creating violence in the capital.”

It, however, allowed the investigation officers to interrogate the accused, if necessary, at the jail gate.

The HC also issued two separate rules upon the government to explain in four weeks why the lower court order that granted the remand prayers should not be cancelled.

The HC bench of Justice Borhanuddin and Justice KM Kamrul Kader came up with the order following separate petitions moved by the arrested opposition leaders.

There was no specific allegation of their involvement in the hartal violence, and even their names were not mentioned in the first information reports (FIR) of the cases, the BNP leaders said in the petitions.

The petitioners also said that lower court has granted the prayers moved by the police to take them on remand without any reasonable ground.

AJ Mohammad Ali appeared for the petitioners, while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam opposed the petitions.

A pro-BNP lawyer requesting anonymity told The Daily Star that the police are yet to take the BNP leaders on remand in the cases, since the lower court order reached the jail authorities this morning.

The police cannot take them on remand in the cases following the HC order, he said, adding that the BNP leaders are now in two Kashimpur jails in Gazipur.

A week into their arrest, the five -- who also include BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo, 65, and her special assistant Shimul Biswas, 56 -- were shown arrested in two cases.

Motijheel police filed the cases on September 24 and November 6 on charge of murder attempt on cops and creating violence in the capital.

Detectives sought 20-day remand for each of them to quiz them extensively about plans to “carry out subversive activities and kill people”.

But the court granted eight-day remand after hearing the detectives' plea.

Barrister AKM Ehsanur Rahman, a defence counsel, told The Daily Star that police arrested them without any specific allegation.

Moudud, Anwar and Rafiqul were detained in front of Hotel Sonargaon in the capital on November 8 evening. The rest two were detained outside Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan residence a few hours later.