3 Hefazat leaders put on remand

Court Correspondent :
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka yesterday placed two top leaders of Hefazat-e-Islam on a seven-day remand each in a case filed with Paltan Police Station of the city over the 2013 mayhem in the capital.
The two Hefazat leaders are Dhaka City unit President Maulana Zunayed Al Habib and Assistant Secretary General Maulana Jalaluddin Ahmed. Accused Maulana Zunayed is also the Joint Secretary General of Hefazat-e-Islam, a Qawmi madrasa based organisation.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shahinur Rahman passed the order after Md Kamrul Hassan Talukder, an Inspector of Detective Branch of Police and also the Investigation Officer of the case, produced them in the court with a 10-day remand plea.
In the remand prayer, the IO said the two leaders and other FIR-named accused were directly involved with the incident that took place on May 5, 2013, in the capital’s Paltan area.
“Moreover, they refused to disclose the names of others who were responsible for the incidents and that is why they need to be remanded to gather information about the whereabouts of the others accused,” the IO added.
Meanwhile, the defence submitted a petition seeking cancellation of the remand prayer, saying that their clients were not involved with the incidents. They were implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy to harass them, the defence added.
Upon hearing both the sides, the court rejected the defence pleas and placed them on a seven -day remand each for quizzing the two leaders about the incident.
Detectives arrested Zunayed from the city’s Baridhara area on Saturday evening and Jalaluddin from Mohammadpur area on the same day.
They were also involved in the recent incidents of Hefajat mayhem during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh and the subsequent hartal (Shutdown) called by Hefazat on March 28.
On May 5, 2013, thousands of Hefajat activists allegedly clashed with law enforcers and ruling Awami league- men, turning Motijheel and Paltan areas into battlefields.
A total of 83 cases were filed in seven districts, including Dhaka, accusing 3,416 named and 84,796 unnamed people. Many of the accused were from Hefajat, Jamaat-e-Islami and also BNP.
Police have pressed charges in 18 cases and given final reports in two other cases. Of the remaining cases, investigations into 62 others have been stalled.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday granted the police 14 days remand afresh for interrogating Hefazat-e-Islam Central Organising Secretary Maulana Azizul Haque Islamabadi in two cases.
On Sunday, Magistrate Shahinur Rahman of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka passed the order.
Earlier, on April 14, a court granted a seven-day remand of Maulana Azizul Haque Islamabadi in a case filed with the Paltan Police Station of the city on May 5, 6 of 2013 on the charge of mayhem under the Explosives Substances Act in Shapla Chattar area of Motijheel.
On completion of that remand, police of Paltan Police Station, yesterday, sought more 20 days remand in two cases filed with Paltan Police Station. Of the two cases one was filed on the charge of sabotage in connection with his presence in Shapla-Chattar area, while the other was filed for link with Hefazat’s recent indisciplined activities.
Azizul Haque’s lawyer sought bail for his client cancelling the remand plea, while the court rejected the bail plea and granted seven days remand in each case.
On April 11 midnight, DB police in a joint raid with RAB arrested Azizul Haque Islamabadi, Central Organising Secretary as well as spokesperson of Hefazat-e-Islam from Hathazari of Chattogram.
He was later sent to court on May 15.