9 more land in jail in Gulshan bomb blast case

A Dhaka court today (14 September) sent nine more accused to jail in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act over alleged crude bomb explosions and acts of sabotage in the capital's Gulshan area.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana passed the order after a hearing this afternoon. SI Moktar Hossain of the prosecution department confirmed the matter.

The accused are Billal Gazi, 35, Ismail Siraji, 32, Md Arifur Rahman Dipu, 27, Md Idrisul Alam, 55, Zainal Abedin Mamun, 50, Jayanta Kumar Barai, 43, Chitta Haque, 75, Nirob Khan, 22, and Md Sohel, 30.

According to the case documents, all nine are activists or leaders at different levels of the banned Chhatra League and the Awami League and its affiliated organisations.

Earlier, Gulshan Police Station SI Md Ruhul Amin, the investigation officer, produced the accused before the court and sought an order to keep them in jail.

The investigation officer told the court that the named and other accused had allegedly admitted to the incident during interrogation and that the preliminary investigation had found evidence supporting the allegations.

Police also said the nine were arrested based on information obtained during the interrogation of 24 other accused, who were placed on remand on 11 September.

The prosecution sought their detention until the investigation is completed, saying separate remand petitions would be filed for further interrogation.

Defence lawyers sought bail for the accused, while the prosecution opposed the pleas. After hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail petitions and ordered them to be sent to jail.

The nine were arrested on 13 September during raids in different police station areas under the Gulshan division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The case statement reads that leaders and activists of suspended Awami League-affiliated organisations and the banned Chhatra League gathered in the Gulshan area at around 11:45am on 11 September, allegedly to pursue an anti-government agenda and create public disorder.

The complaint alleges that the gathering involved anti-government and anti-state slogans and that cocktails were exploded in the area, triggering panic among the public.

It further alleges that cocktails were thrown at police when officers attempted to disperse the gathering.

Police later fired two rounds of rubber bullets to bring the situation under control, after which the protesters dispersed. Five cocktails were recovered from the area.

Gulshan Police Station SI Md Mahbub Hossain filed the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The case names 118 people as accused and includes another 80-100 unnamed suspects.