Ex-planning minister M A Mannan sent to jail

Former planning minister and Sunamganj-3 MP M A Mannan has been sent to jail after he was arrested from his village home in Sunamganj, reports bdnews24.com.
Meanwhile, students have blocked roads demanding the Awami League politician's release.
Sunamganj Judicial Magistrate Farhan Sadique ordered that he be sent to jail at 10:00 am on Friday, said lawyer Masuk Alam.
Earlier, Mannan was presented to the court in a case over an attack on students during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.
The prosecution petitioned for him to be remanded while the defence sought his bail. The judge then ordered the case to be heard by a speedy trial court.
Students from different educational institutions blocked the Sunamganj-Sylhet highway to stage protests against the arrest of Mannan.
They blocked the Shantiganj point of the highway from 10:30 am to 11:00 am and held a demonstration. They demanded that Mannan be released soon or else threatened to escalate protests. Police arrested the former MP around 10:30pm on Thursday from his residence in Shantiganj's Hijalbari.
Mannan was arrested in connection with a case filed over an attack on students and civilians during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement in Sunamganj on Aug 4, said AFM Anwar Hossain Khan, a superintendent of police in Sunamganj.
The Aug 4 attack in Sunamganj injured Jahur Ali from Eroakhai village. His brother Hafiz Ahmed filed a case on Sept 2 against Mannan and 98 others.
A former bureaucrat, Mannan was first elected to the ninth parliament in 2008.
In 2003, after retiring from the civil service, Mannan ran as an Awami League candidate in the 2005 by-election for the Sunamganj-3 seat but lost.
However, he won in both the 2014 and 2018 general elections.
In 2014, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina appointed him as state minister for planning, and four months later, he took on additional responsibilities at the finance ministry.
After the 2018 general election, he was made planning minister.