SC upholds HC bail for 4 BNP leaders

The Supreme Court today upheld a High Court order that had granted bail to four BNP leaders including Moudud Ahmed and MK Anwar in two cases involving charges of blasting crude bombs and vandalising vehicles.

The other BNP leaders are Rafiqul Islam Mia and Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas.

The SC passed the order dismissing four leave-to-appeal petitions filed by the government against the HC order.

The HC on January 21 granted the bail for six months to the BNP leaders in the cases.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain upheld the HC's bail today.

Police filed the two cases with Motijheel Police Station on September 24 and November 6 last year on charges of blasting crude bombs, vandalising vehicles and preventing cops from discharging their duties.

Barrister AKM Ehsanur Rahman, a counsel for the BNP leaders, told The Daily Star that his clients have to remain in jail as they were shown arrested in other cases.  

Opposition leaders during a hartal on November 5 blocked a road near Kamalapur Bazar and hurled crude bombs at law enforcers, according to the case statement filed on November 6 last year.

According to another case statement, BNP men from a procession vandalised a car and blasted several cocktails before Motijheel Ideal School and College in the capital on September 24.

The names of the four BNP leaders were not mentioned in the first information repots (FIR) of the cases. Police later shown them arrested in the cases.

Moudud, Anwar and Rafiqul were detained in front of the Hotel Sonargaon in the capital on November 8 while Biswas near BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's Gulshan residence on November 9.