Arrest culprits, HC asks govt

The High Court yesterday directed police to arrest within 48 hours the culprits who were involved in killing and injuring people at Bhujpur in Fatikchhari during the countrywide hartal on April 11.
The court came up with the order on a suo moto (on its own motion) move after a report had been published in The Daily Star on April 12.
According to the report, three people were killed and more than 100 injured as Hefajat-e Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami activists joined in by locals clashed with Awami League men at Bhujpur under Fatikchhari upazila of Chittagong during the dawn-to-dusk hartal enforced by Shibir on April 11.
The HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain asked the police authorities to submit a report to it within 72 hours.
It also issued a rule upon the government to explain as to why it should not be directed to take proper legal action against the culprits within two weeks.
Our Chittagong correspondent adds: A Chittagong court yesterday placed 43 arrestees on remand in connection with the Bhujpur mayhem case.
Bhujpur union parishad Chairman Shafiul Alam Nuri and its member Taskeer are among them. Both are local Jamaat leaders.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Abu Saleh Mohammad Noman granted three-day remand for each of the 33 arrestees, including Shafiul, while two-day for the others.
Khandaker Babul, investigation officer of the case, said they sought 10-day remand for each of the 43 arrestees.
On Thursday, Jamaat-Shibir men, joined by several thousand villagers, allegedly attacked an AL motor procession and law enforcers at Kazirhat in Bhujpur during a countrywide hartal enforced by Shibir. It left three people killed and more than 100 injured.
On Friday, police filed the case against more than 5,000 people, including 100 named, for swooping on law enforcers, obstructing their duty, committing arson and vandalism and creating anarchy.
Meanwhile, family members of Forkan and Rubel, who were killed during the mayhem, filed two murder cases with Bhujpur Police Station yesterday.
Bhujpur union parishad Chairman Shafiul and Bhujpur Upazila Vice-chairman and also local Jamaat leader Nur Mohammad Al Quaderi are among the accused in both the cases.