A Dhaka court on Saturday granted 10-day remand for 24 leaders and activists of activity-banned Awami League in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act over an anti-government rally in the capital’s Gulshan area.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque passed the order after hearing both sides.
Twenty-five arrested people were produced before the court in connection with the case.
Investigating officer sub-inspector Ruhul Amin of Gulshan Police Station sought 10-day remand for all of them, citing five grounds.
During the hearing, the investigating officer said remand was necessary for proper investigation and to uncover the circumstances surrounding the incident. He also sought time to identify and arrest the alleged mastermind, and to gather information about the conspirators and financiers involved.
Lawyers for the accused opposed the remand prayer and sought cancellation of the remand and bail for their clients. The state, however, opposed the bail pleas.
After hearing the arguments, the court granted 10-day remand for 24 of the accused.
One of the arrestees, Arafat, was claimed to be a minor. The court fixed Sunday for submission of relevant documents and further hearing on the issue. Meanwhile, it ordered that Arafat be sent to jail.
The 24 people placed on remand 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 Zahir Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Kabir Bhandari, Babul Gop, Md Farid Ahmed, Indranil Deb Sharma, Md Nazrul Islam and Masud Hasan Shamim.
According to the case statement, at around 11:45am on Friday, leaders and activists of different affiliate organisations of the Awami League and members of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League gathered in the area under Gulshan Police Station.
The accused allegedly exploded crude bombs, commonly known as cocktails, at the gathering and in nearby areas, creating panic among members of the public.
Police reportedly seized five crude bombs from the scene.
Following the incident, Md Mahbub Hossain, a sub-inspector of Gulshan Police Station, filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act against 118 named individuals and another 80 to 100 unidentified people.
