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Published : 10 Nov 2014, 08:30 PM
Detective police had claimed that Md Asif Adnan, 26, son of a former Supreme Court judge, wanted to go to Turkey and Syria to join ‘jihad’ and spread their ideologies after returning home.
Adnan was arrested in September along with another youth named Md Fazle Elahi Tanzil, 24, from Dhaka. A criminal case was also filed against them.
The bench of justices Md Nizamul Huq and SH Md Nurul Huda Jaigirdar on Monday granted Adnan bail until police submit investigation report on that case.
Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud argued for the accused while Additional Attorney General (AAG) Momtaj Uddin Fakir and Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Amit Talukder represented the state.
During the hearing, Mahmud cited the health condition of the accused for bail and told the court that police were yet to bring any specific criminal charges against Adnan. "They only allegation is that he conspired."
"The father of the accused was a judge. He's (Adnan) highly educated too. He is doing his master's at Dhaka University. He won't run away. The court can confiscate his passport if it wants."
But AAG Momtaj Uddin said the accused was allegedly inspired by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri's video message and had contacted one IS militant who recently came here from the United Kingdom.
"Plotting to commit crimes is also a crime. Even if the plan is to commit the crime abroad, it can be tried under the Anti-terrorism Act. This is a threat to national security."
After the hearing, the court sought an enquiry report from police and ordered Adnan's father Justice Abdus Salam Mamun to submit a bail bond.
However, DAG Talukder told bdnews24.com that they would move the Appellate Division against the High Court order.
After arresting Adnan and Tanzil on Sept 25, DMP Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam had said, "They were inspired by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri's video message and were planning to go to Turkey and Syria.
“They wanted to join the so-called Jihad and spread their ideologies after returning home.”
Detective Branch (DB) of police's Assistant Commissioner Mahmud Naser Johnny had said, “The arrestees come from influential families. One of their associates has come here from the UK to strengthen the al-Qaeda network in Bangladesh."
Only four days later, based on information Adnan gave during interrogation, police arrested British citizen of Bangladesh origin Samiul Rahman aka Ibn Hamdan from the capital.
Police said Hamdan was trying to set up contact with Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, which is a leading al-Qaeda affiliate and has been used as cover for its violent operations across the world.
The law enforcers said he admitted that he was in Dhaka to recruit militants for Sunni insurgent group IS and al-Nusra.
Hamdan wanted to recruit militants here to create an international network of al-Qaeda, Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam had told reporters.
