Jhenaidah AL secretary put on 8-day remand

A Dhaka court has granted police eight days to interrogate Jhenaidah Awami League General Secretary Shaidul Karim Mintu over the murder of ruling party MP Anwarul Azim Anar, reports bdnews24.com.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Tofazzal Hossain passed the order on Thursday.

Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Mahfuzur Rahman, also the investigation officer of the case, presented Mintu to the court and pleaded for a 10-day remand, according to SI Jalal Uddin, the general registrar of court police.

A bail application was filed for the accused.

At the hearing, Mintu claimed: "I am innocent and a victim of political revenge. In my 46 years in politics, I have no murder record. Today, I am the district Awami League's general secretary, having risen from Chhatra League politics. Now, my crime is I sought party nomination."

"I was arrested during 1/11 and 13 times during the anti-Ershad movement. I have always done politics for the people, but now I'm being framed for political reasons," he added.

After the hearing, SI Jalal said the court rejected the bail application and remanded Mintu in police custody.

Anar, a three-time MP from Jhenaidah-4 and president of the Kaliganj Upazila unit of the Awami League, went to India for medical treatment on May 11.

Initially, he stayed at the house of his friend and gold trader Gopal Biswas in Kolkata's Baranagar. However, he went out one day and never came back.