Police arrest Gaibandha Awami League MP Liton in Dhaka in case over shooting a schoolboy

Police detectives in Dhaka have arrested Gaibandha-1 MP Manjurul Islam Liton, accused of shooting a nine-year-old schoolboy in his own constituency.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 Oct 2015, 04:36 PM
Updated : 14 Oct 2015, 05:21 PM

The Awami League lawmaker was nabbed from Uttara around 10pm on Wednesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Muntasirul Islam told bdnews24.com.

Muntasirul Islam said Liton was taken to the DMP Detective Branch office after his arrest from a relative’s house.

He also said the MP would be sent to Gaibandha on Thursday morning.

His arrest comes after the Supreme Court earlier in the day stayed a High Court order directing Liton to surrender before a trial court by Oct 18.
 
Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Huq Tutul had said that the order had lifted the legal bar on arresting the lawmaker.
 
Liton is also facing charges of looting and vandalism in another case.
 
Both cases were filed at Gaibandha’s Sundarganj Police Station after the incident on Oct 2.
 
Liton had not been seen in public after the shooting until he surfaced on Monday at the High Court for the hearing of his petitions seeking anticipatory bail.
 
The court turned down the pleas and ordered him to surrender before the court of Gaibandha’s Chief Judicial Magistrate.

After the hearing, Liton’s counsel told bdnews24.com that the High Court order meant that police could not arrest his client within Oct 18.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam then said he would move Supreme Court against the order. “The court asked him to surrender within Oct 18. There are no specific instructions for the police to not arrest him, which will create confusion. So, we will go to the Supreme Court,” Alam said.

On Wednesday, Chamber Judge Syed Mahmud Hossain stayed the High Court order after hearing the State’s petition filed on Tuesday.

On Oct 2, fourth-grader Shahadat Hossain Sourav was wounded by shots fired allegedly by the lawmaker.
 
A case was filed the next day by the family.
 
The incident triggered a furore in Liton’s constituency with residents calling for the cancellation of his Parliament membership.

Another resident from his constituency filed a case accusing the MP of looting and vandalism.
 
After the shootout, Liton's family surrendered his two firearms to police. The authorities later cancelled the permits for those.
 
Liton has been criticised by local Awami League leaders for his “controversial activities”.
 
They have alleged that the MP was also involved in various ‘nefarious acts’ in the past.