Crude bomb blast outside PMO: 3 accused placed on two-day remand
Defence says the three were picked up from their homes and are not named in the FIR; state says they threw the bombs to create unrest.
A Dhaka court today (15 October) placed three accused on two-day remand in a case filed under the Explosives Act over a crude bomb blast in front of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in the capital's Tejgaon.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sefatullah passed the order following a petition by the investigation officer, Tejgaon Police Station Sub-Inspector Abdur Rahim.
Sub-Inspector (SI) Arif Reza of the prosecution division confirmed the matter.
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The accused are Akash Ahmed Samir alias Abdullah, 25, Shakhawat Hossain, 48, and Nur Nabi, 30. Police arrested them in the capital on 10 October. The following day, they were sent to jail, with today fixed for the remand hearing.
Earlier in the day, the investigating officer produced the accused before the court and sought seven days' remand for each.
According to the remand petition, preliminary information and evidence had been found linking the accused to the incident.
It said the accused needed to be interrogated to get to the bottom of the case, identify and arrest other unidentified accused, and gather necessary information.
Defence lawyers, including Monir Hossain Sumon, opposed the petition and sought bail, arguing that the accused had not been arrested from any procession or gathering on the day of the incident, but from their homes. They also said the three were innocent, had no previous criminal cases against them, and were not named in the first information report (FIR).
State lawyer Omar Faruk Faruki, arguing in favour of remand, said the accused had thrown crude bombs at an important location in front of the PMO to create unrest in the country.
He sought the maximum remand to find out who else was involved and to get to the bottom of the case.
After hearing both sides, the court granted two days' remand for each accused.
According to the FIR, the blast took place at around 1:10am on 10 October on the road adjacent to the PMO, at the start of the link road from Jahangir Gate towards Agargaon, under Tejgaon Police Station.
Tejgaon Police Station SI Mahidul Islam filed the case as the complainant on that day.
The FIR mentions that leaders and activists of the banned Chhatra League, and of the Jubo League, Swechchhasebak League and Awami League -- whose political activities are banned -- were involved in the incident.
It also mentions the recovery of parts of one exploded crude bomb and two unexploded ones from the scene.
