Court orders ex-Iskcon leader Chinmoy to be shown arrested in 4 more cases
Chinmoy Krishna Das was not physically present in court due to security concerns but was connected virtually from prison during today's hearing
A Chattogram court has ordered Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the expelled Iskcon leader and spokesperson for Bangladesh Sanatan Jagaran Mancha, currently in jail, to be shown arrested in four more cases.
Judge SM Alauddin of the 6th Metropolitan Magistrate's Court issued this order this morning (6 May).
During the hearing, Chinmoy Krishna Das was not physically present in court due to security concerns but was connected virtually from prison.
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Assistant Public Prosecutor Md Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury, representing the state, said the court ordered Chinmoy Krishna Das to be shown arrested in four cases based on applications from the police.
Earlier yesterday (5 May), he was shown arrested in the lawyer Saiful Islam Alif murder case in the same court.
Of today's four cases, the police filed three and one by Alif's brother.
On Sunday (4 May), applications were submitted to the Chattogram Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court to show Chinmoy Das arrested in four cases, including the murder of Alif.
On 26 November last year, clashes and violence erupted at the Chattogram court premises surrounding Chinmoy Das's bail hearing.
During this incident, lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed after being attacked with cleavers, daggers, and bricks.
The victim's father, Jamal Uddin, filed a murder case with Kotwali Police Station naming 31 individuals.
Five more cases were filed over the incident, including charges of attacking police, vandalising vehicles belonging to judges and lawyers, cocktail explosions, and disrupting court proceedings.
As many as 51 people have been arrested in these cases so far. Of these, 21 are directly accused in the Alif murder case.
According to court information, three arrested accused — Chandan Das, Ripon Das, and Rajib Bhattacharya — confessed in court that they brutally killed lawyer Saiful, who was wearing a white shirt and black pants.
Chinmoy Das also faces a sedition case filed by former BNP general secretary Firoz Khan at Chandgaon Police Station on 31 October last year. The complaint alleges that Chinmoy and his followers were involved in anti-state activities by disrespecting the national flag.
He was arrested in Dhaka on 25 November in that case.
Recently, the High Court granted Chinmoy Das bail in the sedition case, but the state has appealed to the Appellate Division seeking a stay on the bail order.
A hearing over this was scheduled for Sunday in the Chamber Court, but judicial activities were suspended for half a day due to the death of Supreme Court senior lawyer MI Farooqi.
