Dhaka //

A court has granted a 10-day remand for 24 leaders and activists of the banned Awami League, who were arrested in connection with an anti-government procession in the capital’s Gulshan area and charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

On Saturday (September 12), Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque issued this order following a hearing.

The accused are: Md. Rahim, Md. Jahangir Hossain, Md. Alamgir Hossain, Sabbir Hossain, Kamrul Hasan, Md. Munna Mia, Samin Yasar (Safayat), Md. Russel, HM Zakaria Rahman, Minhajul Islam Fahad, Sohel Ahmed, Md. Sohrab, Md. Hazrat Ali, Md. Aktarul Islam Masud, Chan Mia, Md. Habib Sikdar, Md. Jahir Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Kabir Bhandari, Babul Gop, Md. Farid Ahmed, Indranil Deb Sharma, Md. Nazrul Islam, and Masud Hasan Shamim.

On this day, the 25 arrested accused were produced before the court. Subsequently, the investigating officer of the case, Sub-Inspector Ruhul Amin of Gulshan Police Station, applied for a 10-day remand for them, citing five grounds. During the hearing, he stated that a 10-day remand was necessary to ensure a proper investigation and to uncover the underlying facts of the case. He argued that remand was required to identify and arrest the mastermind behind the incident, as well as to gather information regarding conspirators and financiers. Additionally, interrogation under remand was deemed necessary to obtain information on the whereabouts of other involved individuals and to facilitate the arrest of absconding suspects.

Lawyers representing the accused applied for the cancellation of the remand order and sought bail, while the state opposed the bail plea. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court granted the 10-day remand for 24 of the accused. However, as a claim was made that one individual named Arafat is a minor, the court scheduled Sunday (September 13) for the submission of relevant documents and a further hearing; simultaneously, the court ordered him to be sent to jail. According to the case details, on Friday (September 11) at 11:45 AM, leaders of various associate bodies of the Bangladesh Awami League—whose activities have been suspended—and members of the banned student organization Chhatra League gathered in the Gulshan police station area of ​​the capital. They organized the assembly with the aim of chanting anti-government and anti-state slogans and creating disorder. During the event, they detonated crude bombs (cocktails) at the scene and in the surrounding areas, inciting panic among the public.

As members of a banned organization supporting a proscribed entity, the unidentified accused detonated crude bombs while chanting anti-government and anti-state slogans and causing chaos, with the intent of tarnishing the government’s image and damaging state assets as well as public life and property. When the police attempted to disperse them, the group hurled crude bombs at the officers to incite fear. Subsequently, police fired two rounds of rubber bullets to bring the situation under control, causing the group to scatter and flee. Five crude bombs were seized at the scene. Following the incident, Md. Mahbub Hossain, a Sub-Inspector at Gulshan Police Station, filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act, naming 118 individuals and listing 80 to 100 unidentified persons as accused.

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