Jamaat chief, secretary general among eight to be grilled by police in two cases

Police have taken eight Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, including its chief Maqbul Ahmed, Secretary General Shafiur Rahman and policymaking body member former MP Mia Golam Parwar into five days of custody for questioning in two cases.

Police on Tuesday produced the eight, who were among nine arrested in Dhaka’s Uttara on Monday night, before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

Judge Golam Nabi heard Kadamtali Police Station OC Saju Mia’s petitions to remand the eight for 10 days in two cases under the Special Powers Act and Explosives Act.

After the hearing, the judge ordered a five-day custody and scrapped petitions by the defence seeking the Jamaat leaders’ bail and cancellation of the remand.

The other five accused are Chittagong City Jamaat chief Mohammad Shahjahan, Chittagong District South unit chief Zafar Sadique, and leaders Mohammad Nazrul Islam and Saiful Islam.

On Monday night, police arrested them from a meeting at a house in Uttara on charges of ‘planning to create political anarchy’.

They also arrested landlord Nawsher Ali, but later released him as they could not find his involvement in the meeting, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Nazmul Alam told bdnews24.com.

Defence lawyer Abdur Razzaque told the court that the accused had not been named in the case and that they were abroad when the alleged incidents took place.

Those who were grilled in police custody earlier did not name any of the eight either, he argued.

He also sought an order from the court that they could be questioned at jail gates considering their age and health condition.

Jamaat claimed the arrests were a ‘part of a plot to leave the party without any leaders’.