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Published : 03 Dec 2024, 12:24 PM
Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a Hindu priest and spokesman of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, will have to wait a month to see if he will receive bail in a sedition case against him.
His bail plea was set to be heard by the court of Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Saiful Islam on Tuesday, but no lawyer appeared on Chinmoy's behalf at the hearing.
After an initial hearing on the bail petition, the judge set Jan 2 for another hearing, said Chattogram Metropolitan Police ADC (Prosecution) Mofizur Rahman.
There was heavy security in the Chattogram court area for the bail hearing. Large deployments of law enforcement personnel from different security forces took up positions nearby.
Chinmoy was not brought to court for the hearing. A leader from the Chattogram Bar Association and other lawyers were seen holding a protest march on the court premises in the morning.
On Nov 26, Chattogram's 6th Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam rejected Chinmoy's bail application in the sedition case and sent him to jail.
The decision angered members of the Hindu community, who staged a protest around the prison van for Chinmoy outside the court.
The protest lasted for around two and a half hours before police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd before taking Chinmoy, spokesman of Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, into custody.
During the protest, several motorcycles and vehicles on Court Road were damaged, as glass shards littered the second floor of the Court Mosque Complex, where lawyers' chambers are located.
After about two and a half hours, police used sound grenades to disperse the protesters and took Chinmoy into custody.
During the protest, several motorcycles and vehicles parked on the court road were damaged. A scuffle also broke out between lawyers and protesters. In the ensuing chaos, lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed on the Rangam Convention Hall road.
After Chinmoy was denied bail, his lawyers immediately filed a revision petition, seeking another hearing. However, no hearing took place that day.
Chinmoy, head of the ISKCON-run Pundarik Dham Temple in Chattogram, had been speaking out against attacks on minorities across the country since Aug 5, calling for eight specific demands.
Following a public rally at Chattogram’s Laldighi Maidan on Oct 25, a sedition case was filed on Oct 30 against Chinmoy and 18 others at Kotwali Police Station.
Chinmoy was arrested at Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport on Nov 25 in connection with the sedition case.
The news of his arrest sparked protests across several districts, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla, Khulna, Dinajpur, and Cox’s Bazar, which continued late into the night of Nov 25.
Chinmoy was transported from Dhaka to Chattogram that evening and sent to jail the following day after a court appearance.
Police have filed three cases in connection with the violence, vandalism and obstruction of police duties outside the court premises on Nov 26.
On Saturday, the family of slain lawyer Saiful filed a murder case against 31 people. Saiful's brother, Khan Alam, filed a separate case naming 116 people over the attacks and vandalism targeting lawyers.
Thus far, police have arrested 39 people in connection with these cases.
Lawyers staged a court boycott and work stoppage on Wednesday and Thursday to protest Saiful’s killing. Following protest rallies on Thursday and Sunday, the bar association called for no lawyers to stand for Chinmoy’s defence.
The bar association, most of whose leadership are involved in BNP politics, also demanded that Chinmoy be registered as a suspect in the other cases.
The Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote has alleged that 70 Hindu lawyers have been accused in the murder case filed by Saiful’s brother and claimed that it was done to ‘block the bail hearing’ for Chinmoy.
Nine people brought before the court have been shown arrested in Saiful’s murder case. Another court remanded eight others accused in the attack on police on the road in front of Rangam Convention Hall for interrogation.
