Police foil Mancha march

Police have stopped activists of Ganajagaran Mancha from observing a sit-in protest outside the Law Ministry in the city demanding withdrawal of a comment by law minister over the trial of Jamaat-e-Islami. Two Mancha activists were injured during the ensuing scuffle with the cops. Police intercepted a procession taken out by the Mancha activists in the Doyel intersection (Chattar) of Dhaka University area around 12:15pm on Monday. As the Mancha activists tried to push their way through, police beat them up, said Baki Billah, one of the Mancha organisers and former president of Chhatra Union. Freedom fighter Abul Kalam Azad and Chhatra Union central committee organising secretary GM Zilani Shubho were injured in the police action. Law Minister Anisul Haque on May 29 said Jamaat-e-Islami cannot be tried under the current legal framework. The following day Mancha activists took out several processions in Dhaka and Chittagong cities in protest against the law minster's statement. Mancha activists set a deadline -- June 2 -- and said if the minister did not withdraw his remarks by that date, they would observe a sit-in in front of the law ministry, according to bdnews24.com.