A Dhaka court yesterday rejected the bail petitions of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and standing committee member Mirza Abbas for the fourth time in a case filed over the December 7 clash between party activists and police.

The court, however, directed the jail authorities to provide them with proper treatment in accordance with the Jail Code.

Judge Md Asaduzzaman of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court passed the order after the two BNP leaders' lawyers moved the petitions on different grounds after the lower courts rejected bail pleas on different dates.

During yesterday's hearing, the defence told the court that their clients' names were not in the first information report of the case and they were falsely implicated as part of political harassment.

In the petitions, they said BNP leaders Amanullah Aman and Abdul Kader Bhuiyan were granted bail by another Dhaka court despite their names being included in the FIR of the same case.

Thus, the defence said, Fakhrul and Abbas should be granted bail considering their social status.

On the other hand, the prosecution opposed the petitions saying that leaders and activists of BNP and its front organisations carried out subversive activities as per the directives of the two leaders, and so their petitions should be rejected.

After hearing both sides, the judge turned down the defence pleas, considering the magnitude of the charges brought against them.

He then fixed January 25 for the next hearing.

The case was filed with Paltan Model Police Station on December 8 – a day after the clash broke out in front of the BNP's Nayapaltan office.

The clash left one person dead and many injured.

Around 450 leaders and activists of the BNP and its front organisations were arrested and produced before a Dhaka court the following day.

Fakhrul and Abbas were picked up from their homes around 3:00am on December 9 and were sent to jail after Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jashim rejected their bail petitions.

The two were shown arrested on charges of provoking party activists to attack police.