Adabar BNP leader murder: Accused Ledu’s remand plea rejected, sent to jail

A Dhaka court today (2 August) rejected a seven-day remand petition against expelled BNP leader Monowar Hossain Jibon alias Ledu Hasan and ordered him sent to jail in a case filed over the killing of BNP leader Abul Bashar Badsha.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbub Alam passed the order following a hearing this afternoon.

Ledu is an expelled joint convener of the BNP's Adabar thana unit, while Badsha was the general secretary of the party's Nobodoy Housing unit.

Earlier, Adabar Police Station Sub-Inspector Hafizur Rahman, the investigating officer in the case, produced Ledu before the court and sought seven days to interrogate him in police custody.

Dhaka Metropolitan Prosecution Division Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman confirmed the development.

"The investigating officer produced the accused before the court and sought a seven-day remand. The complainant in the case was also present. She later submitted an affidavit informing the court that the person produced was not the accused she had named. The court then rejected the remand petition and ordered him sent to jail," he said.

RAB-2 arrested Ledu from the Mohammadia Housing Society area of Mohammadpur on the night of 28 July.

RAB said Ledu faces 32 cases involving murder, arms, drugs and other offences at different police stations in the capital.

The force identified him as one of the accused in the Badsha murder case, saying his name emerged in statements given by other accused before the court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

According to RAB, Ledu supplied a weapon to Parvez, identified as the main attacker in the killing.

Earlier, six accused, including Parvez, gave confessional statements before the court over their involvement in the killing.

According to the case statement, the incident originated from an altercation following Brazil's victory in a Fifa World Cup match on the night of 29 June.

One of the accused, Nirab, repeatedly blew a whistle in celebration, prompting objections from local resident Habibur Rahman, who has a heart condition.

Although local residents initially intervened, tensions continued. A community mediation meeting was subsequently arranged at a shop in the Nobodoy Housing kacha bazaar area on 1 July.

The accused allegedly became aggrieved over the mediation and lay in wait near the Nobodoy four-road intersection.

At around 8:30pm, as Saddam Hossain and Badsha were leaving the meeting, the accused attacked them with machetes and other sharp weapons, leaving both critically injured.

They were taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital. Badsha was later transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead at around 11:30pm.

Badsha's wife, Smriti Akter, subsequently filed the case with Adabar Police Station.

Court sources said 10 people have so far been arrested in connection with the killing.