Fugitive Awami League MP Rana lands in jail after surrendering in Tangail court

A Tangail court has sent ruling Awami League MP Amanur Rahman Khan Rana, accused of murdering freedom fighter Faruk Ahmed, to jail rejecting his bail plea after he surrendered.

He appeared before the court of First Additional District and Sessions Judge Abul Mansur Mia on Sunday morning and had pleaded for bail, court police Inspector Anwarul Islam told bdnews24.com.

"The judge refused bail and ordered him to jail. But none of the other fugitives in the case turned up," he added.

On Jan 18, 2013, Tangail Awami League leader Faruk Ahmed's bullet-riddled body was found in front of his home at College Parha.

His wife Nahar Ahmed filed a murder case at Tangail Model Police Station three days later.

Tangail-3 (Ghatail) MP Rana and his brother Shahidur Rahman Khan Mukti had moved to High Court seeking anticipatory bail last year.

While the court had granted them bail, the order was quashed in December.

The court had also ordered Rana to surrender.

The wanted lawmaker reportedly appeared in Parliament in June this year although police were looking for him for a long time over the murder case.

Tangail police had pressed charges against 14 people, including Rana and his three brothers - former Tangail mayor Mukti, former Bangladesh Chhatra League Vice-President Saniyat Khan Bappa and former Tangail Chamber of Commerce President Jahidur Rahman Khan Kankan - in February this year.

Some recent media reports have claimed that Kakon and Bappa have fled the country.

The six other accused are the MP’s close aide Kabir Hossain, 'Darwan Babu' aka 'Daant Bhanga Babu', former Juba League leader Alamgir Hossain Chan, Nasir Uddin Noor, Sanwar Hossain and ex-ward commissioner Masudur Rahman.

Four of accused – Anisul Islam Raja, Mohammad Ali, Samir Mia and Farid Ahmed – are behind bars.

Among them, Raja and Ali, known to be close to the Rana family, have testified in court indicting Rana and his brothers for the murder.

On Apr 6, Tangail Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Aminul Islam accepted the charge-sheet in and issued arrest warrants for the 10 absconding suspects.

Police confiscated the assets of Rana and his three brothers on May 20 following a court order as the accused had missed several dates in the case hearings.

A proposal to forward the case to the Speedy Trial Tribunal for fast-track proceedings was sent to the home ministry on Aug 8 following the recommendation of Tangail's superintendent of police.