AL leader lands in jail for murder of rival

A Pabna court sent an Awami League leader and 16 others to jail yesterday, rejecting their bail pleas in a case filed over the murder  of their rival.

Pabna municipality unit AL member Saidur Rahman Malitha's wife filed a case with Pabna Police Station on September 10, accusing 20 named and other unnamed of murder after her husband was shot dead in broad daylight allegedly by Alauddin Malitha and his peers on September 9.

Police earlier arrested three named and three unnamed in connection to the murder while key accused Alauddin Malitha, vice president of Pabna Sadar upazila unit AL and the former chairman of Hemayetpur Union Parishad, and 16 others went into hiding.

Following this, Alauddin and the 16 others pleaded for bail before the High Court in Dhaka.

The court rejected their application and gave them three weeks to surrender to a local court.

The accused were taken into custody by the Pabna District Court after it rejected their second bail application.

A total of 23 people are currently in custody while the police are trying to locate the other accused.