Sylhet Mayor Ariful sent to jail

A Habiganj court has sent Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haq Chowdhury to prison after he surrendered before it.

He sought bail from Senior Judicial Magistrate Rokeya Akter’s court on Tuesday in a case over the killing of former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria.

A court on Dec 21 issued arrest warrants for 11 including Chowdhury, Habiganj municipal Mayor Golam Kibria Gaus, and BNP chief Khaleda Zia's former political secretary Harris Chowdhury.

The court ordered the police to file a report on their arrest on Jan 8.

Gaus was sent to jail after he had surrendered before the court on Dec 28.

Chowdhury, who was elected mayor last year, is a member of the Sylhet BNP’s convening committee.

Criminal Investigation Department’s Sylhet zone Assistant Superintendent Meherun Nesa Parul included the name of the 11 people, taking the number of defendants to 35 in the revised supplementary charge-sheet.

Shah AMS Kibria was fatally wounded in a grenade attack on Jan 27, 2005 while returning from a rally in Habiganj Sadar. He died on way to Dhaka.

His nephew, Shah Monjurul Huda, Awami League leaders Abdur Rahim, Abul Hossain and Siddique Ali were also killed and over 100 party activists injured in the attack.

The then general secretary of Habiganj Awami League unit, Abdul Majid Khan filed two cases over the attacks – one for the killings and the other under the Explosives Act -- the same night.