‘Why do I have to be remanded again and again in the same case?’ Ex-MP Selim asks court

"Why do I have to be remanded again and again in the same case?" asked Mohammad Sulaiman Selim, former member of parliament for Dhaka-7, as a Dhaka court granted him a three-day remand, today (11 August) in connection with the murder of Khalid Hasan Saifullah, a first-year student at Ideal College in Azimpur, during the July protests.

"Why? Again, why? I have already said everything I had to say," Selim made the remarks while consulting his lawyer in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate GM Farhan Istiyak.

Upon hearing from his lawyer that the hearing concerned a remand application in the Khalid Saifullah murder case — for which he had already been remanded once — Selim got frustrated.

Investigating officer Inspector Md Sajjad Hossain of the DB Kotwali Zonal Team sought a seven-day remand.

Additional Public Prosecutor Shamsuddoha Suman told the court, "He was previously taken on remand in this case. The investigating officer has now found fresh evidence linking him to the incident. Footage from a private television channel shows him instructing the attack between the 1:09 and 3:00 marks of a five-minute, eight-second video. We need to identify the weapons used and others involved."

Suman alleged that Selim and his father, both former MPs for Dhaka-7, instigated the attacks. Additional Public Prosecutor Azizul Haque Didar claimed Selim, alongside Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League leaders, was responsible for multiple incidents in the constituency.

Defence counsel argued Selim was not involved and that no incriminating evidence had emerged during his previous four-day remand. They requested bail, but the court granted three days' remand.

Selim arrived at the court lock-up in a prison van around 9am. At 10:15am, he was escorted to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court under heavy police security, wearing a bulletproof vest, helmet, and handcuffs, which were removed before he was placed in the dock.