Legal, pol storms

Staff Reporter :
Though over 24 hours have already gone, the whereabouts of sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui, who returned to Dhaka from Kolkata on Sunday night, could not be known as yet.
Even, he could manage a safe passage from the airport averting arrest despite several arrest warrants against him for hurting the religious sentiments of people.
The sudden return of Latif Siddiqui and the government’s inaction over his arrest have triggered both legal and political storms, resulting in mass discontent.
Siddiqui, who had been staying in India for about one and a half months, returned to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Air India flight AI 230 around 8:20pm with several arrest warrants on him.
His derogatory remarks on Tablig and Hajj at programme in New York in September had sparked violent protests against him at home and abroad.
According to airport sources, the former minister and sitting MP from Tangail-4 constituency stayed at the VIP terminal for sometime and talked to some airport and government agency officials. Then he left the airport through the domestic terminal around 9:00pm to avoid newsmen waiting in front of the VIP terminal. He boarded his personal vehicle waiting there and headed towards Uttara, the sources said.
None could say where he went. And since then he remained untraced. Police officials at the airport, seeking anonymity, said Siddiqui was not arrested there as they did not have orders from “higher authorities”.
There were strong rumor yesterday that Siddiqui will appear before the High Court (HC) to seek an anticipatory bail but he did not turn up. HC sources confirmed that no anticipatory bail petition was filed on behalf of Latif Siddiqui on the day.