BNP leaders Hafiz, Khokon secure bail hours after arrest

BNP leaders Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Khairul Kabir Khokon have been released on bail hours after their arrest near the Supreme Court on Thursday.

They were apprehended in connection with a case containing charges of vandalism and obstructing police in the execution of their duties stemming from clashes between law enforcers and activists of a pro-BNP organisation on Tuesday.

Police later produced them before a Dhaka court and sought 10 days to grill BNP's Vice Chairman Hafiz and Joint Secretary General Khokon in custody.

But Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Sayeed rejected the remand petition and granted bail to the two BNP leaders along with Mokbul Hossain, the former general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Hawkers Dal. Among them, only Hafiz was named in the case, said their lawyer Nuruzzaman Tapan.

Activists of Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal clashed with police in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday after blocking the road to demand the release of jailed BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

They later occupied a key road for an hour and vandalised a number of passing vehicles, according to some onlookers.

A case was started against 500 activists of the Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal on charges of vandalism and assault on police.

Law enforcers subsequently detained the president of the  Ishtiaq Aziz Ulfat at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Wednesday in connection with the case.

Hafiz , Khokon and Mokbul were also shown arrested in the case, according to investigation officer Inspector Delowar Hossain of police's Detective Branch.

The case also implicates BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam and 27 other top leaders while the rest are unidentified suspects, said Tapan. 

But Mirza Fakhrul along with BNP's standing committee members Mirza Abbas and Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Legal Affairs Secretary Kaisar Kamal were all granted anticipatory bail by the High Court on Thursday.