Jalil, Selim, Hashem sent to jail

Awami League leaders Abdul Jalil and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim were Sunday sent to jail on 30 days detention under the Special Powers Act, report agencies.

The same court sent former state minister for home and BNP leader Lutfozzaman Babar into a fresh four-day remand for questioning in an arms case, filed by sub-inspector Helaluddin of Gulshan Police Station Sunday.

Partex Group chairman MA Hashem was also sent to jail.

Jalil, Selim, Babar and Hashem were taken to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court for Dhaka at about 3.45pm Sunday after their remand ended.

Arrested by the joint forces on May 28 they were produced before the chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) court in the afternoon on expiry of police remand.

Magistrate MA Rouf rejected their bail petitions and ordered them to the central jail.

Police prosecutor Mir Nasirul Alam in his report to the court said AL general secretary Abdul Jail had been engaged in clandestine activities against the government and violated the Emergency Rules.

On May 28 he had a secret meeting in his Mercantile Bank at Motijheel in the city with a group of party activists when he instigated the cadres to violate the Emergency Rules, create disturbances and destabilize the situation. He was also engaged in anti-state activities, said the report.

In the report, police alleged that Jalil supplied arms and funds to party activists.

It further said Jail severely criticized the caretaker government and actions of the joint forces.

Moreover, during the interrogation Jalil admitted to supplying money to the party cadres to carry out violent activities.

Earlier, pleading for bail his counsel Quamrul Islam submitted that Jalil has been suffering from various ailments, in support of which certificates and prescriptions of physicians were placed.

He also prayed for granting division to Jalil in the jail.

The magistrate rejected the bail petition and sent him to the Dhaka Central Jail on detention for 30 days under the Special Powers Act.

He also ordered for placing Jalil in the jail in accordance with the jail code.

BNP leader Lutfozzaman Babar was taken into a fresh four-day remand for questioning in an arms case.

Lutfozzaman Babar, now going through ordeals in custody of the law, was Sunday sued in an arms case for illegally keeping a foreign-made revolver.

Sub-inspector of Gulshan thana Helaluddin filed the case with the police station against Babar under the Arms Act at 10:30pm as they found in his possession a foreign revolver without legal document.

Following the arrest of the powerful minister of the immediate-past government on May 28, police searched his Gulshan residence at about 11:15pm and found four firearms.

"Though he managed to show legal documents for a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun, he failed to show the legal document of the foreign-made revolver," says the case statement.

Earlier, Babar was taken on a four-day police remand on May 29 when produced in the court of metropolitan magistrate Shafiq Anwar.

Magistrate Abdur Rouf Khan issued the order on Jalil and magistrate Shafiq Anwar on the others.

Joint forces arrested Jalil, Babar and Hashem on May 28 in a new crackdown on corruption. They were taken into four-day remand for questioning on May 29.

Selim was arrested on May 29 at his Banani home. A Dhaka court ordered him into a three-day remand on May 30.

Mintoo's house, office raided

Another reports adds: Joint forces Sunday raided the house of Abdul Awal Mintoo, a top businessman and former FBCCI president.

The joint forces also raided Mintoo's office on the ninth floor of Anchor Tower on Sonargaon Road in the capital.

Mintoo's son Taffir Awal told bdnews24.com that only his grandmother Badrunnessa, 75, was at home during the raid. Taffir went there after he heard about the raid.

The raid started at 11am and continued until 1.10pm. During the raid, the joint forces talked to the family members about different matters tied to business, Taffir said.

Four officials of an anticorruption taskforce and 14 other army officers joined the drive.

After the raid on the house, the joint forces went to the office of Multimode Group, Mintoo's business office in Anchor Tower. The raid on the office started at 2.35pm and continued for hours.

Joint forces arrested Mintoo, Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil and former commerce minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury on May 28-29.

Meanwhile, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka Sunday sent Awami League presidium member Kazi Zafrullah into a four-day remand for questioning in an extortion case.

Metropolitan magistrate Abdur Rouf Khan approved four days for interrogation after sub-inspector Md Salahuddin of Gulshan Police Station appealed for a seven-day remand.

Golam Dastagir Gazi, owner of Gazi Tank, sued the AL leader for extorting Tk 50 lakh.

Zafarullah lawyers Syed Rezaur Rahman, Abul Kalam Azad, Sahara Khatun and Ashraful Haque opposed the remand appeal in court.

The court asked the law enforcers to take necessary steps if he fell sick during interrogation.

Golam Dastagir Gazi, also an AL leader, filed the case with Gulshan Police Station on May 19.

In the case, Gazi alleged that Zafrullah had threatened to harm his business and not to nominate him for parliamentary election if the money was not paid.

He paid the money in two installments on April 13-30 at Zafarullah Banani office.

On April 18, joint forces arrested Zafarullah at his Gulshan home.