Chattogram court denies bail to Chinmoy Das in five cases

The cases include one over the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif and another initiated by Alif’s brother, alongside three under the Explosives Act filed by police

A Chattogram court has rejected the bail plea of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson for the Sanatani Jagaran Jote, in five cases, including one over the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif.

Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Hasanul Islam issued the order following a hearing on Thursday.

Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury, assistant public prosecutor of the Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court, told bdnews24.com: “The court denied bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das after hearing arguments from both sides.”

A team of lawyers led by Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee from Dhaka represented Chinmoy.

Law enforcement presence was heightened in the Chattogram court premises surrounding the hearing. Chinmoy’s legal team entered and left the court under police security.

Earlier, on Jun 3, the court had previously rejected Chinmoy’s bail plea in five cases.

The five cases include one over the murder of lawyer Alif, three under the Explosives Act filed by police for incidents on Nov 26 last year involving vandalism and attacks, and another initiated by Alif’s brother Khane Alam.

Chinmoy was arrested on Nov 25 in Dhaka in a sedition case over disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag. 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 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 into custody.

During the protest, several motorcycles and vehicles parked on the court road were vandalised. A scuffle also broke out between lawyers and protesters. In the ensuing chaos, Alif was killed on the Rangam Convention Hall road.

Alif’s father Jamal Uddin filed a murder case on Nov 29 with the Chattogram Kotwali Police Station over his death, naming 31 suspects and 15-16 unidentified suspects.

Khane Alam, Alif’s brother, filed another case naming 116 people, alleging an attack on lawyers, explosions and vandalism.

Police filed three other cases over the clashes, vandalism, and the obstruction of police work on the court premises. As many as 76 suspects and 1,400 unidentified people were named in those three cases.

Then, on Dec 3, an individual named Mohammad Ullah filed a case accusing 29 named suspects, including a ward councillor and Awami League leaders, over the violence in the court premises.