Mamunul among 17 Hefazat leaders sued for violence 

Hefazat-e-Islam's Joint Secretary General Mamunul Haque and 16 other leaders of the Islamist group have been sued for recent violence in Baitul Mukarram in the capital.

Dhaka South Jubo League's Deputy Office Secretary Khandaker Arifuzzaman filed the case with Paltan police station on Monday.

Jahidul Islam Shohagh, senior assistant commissioner (Paltan zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, confirmed the information to The Business Standard on Monday night.

Junayed Al Habib, Lokman Hakim, Nasir Uddin Monir, joint secretaries of Hefazat; Bahauddin Jakaria, Nayeb-e Ameer and some other central and local Hefazat leaders were among the accused.   

According to the First Information Report, the plaintiff, a businessman by profession, went to the Baitul Mukarram Mosque to offer Jummah prayer at noon on March 26.

After the prayer, he came out of the mosque and saw a huge gathering of thousands of leaders and activists of Jamaat-Shibir-BNP-Hefazat on the stairs of the north gate outside of the mosque.

They, led by Maulana Mamunul Haque, held secret meetings in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, to create chaos ahead of the grand celebrations of Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence and Birth Centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Mamunul planned and conspired to create widespread anarchy across the country including Dhaka.

The plaintiff also alleged that leaders and activists of Jamaat, Chhatra Shibir, BNP and Hefazat, as per the order of Mamunul, carried out an attack on him and other devotees on the premises.

They, under the direct instruction of Mamunul Haque, attacked the plaintiff and others with local and foreign firearms, including knives, axes, swords, hammers, swords, sticks. The plaintiff sustained serious injuries during the attack.

No top Hefazat leaders among 17,000 accused in mayhem cases

This is the first case against Hefazat leaders, filed after several days they caused mayhem in some districts from 26-28 March centring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bangladesh visit.

Police filed nearly three dozen cases against more than 17,000 unnamed people over the violence, but no Hefazat leader was named then.

At least 14 people were killed and hundreds injured and government and private properties were damaged as the Islamist group locked into sporadic clashes with law enforcement agencies from Friday to Sunday in Chattogram, Brahmanbaria, Dhaka and Narayanganj during their protests and hartal.