Police to arrest Hefazat leaders if found involved in violence

Police have said they will arrest Hefazat Joint Secretary General Mamunul Haque and 16 other leaders, sued on Monday night, after determining their roles in the mayhem on 26 March.

Syed Nurul Islam, deputy commissioner at the Motijheel Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), told the media on Tuesday that the police would arrest those who had engaged in unlawful and anti-state activities on 26 March at the national mosque Baitul Mukarram once investigations were done.

"We are now in the initial stage. The case was lodged only on Monday night. After investigations, we will find out who directly participated in or acted as financier and mastermind behind the clashes. We will definitely arrest those found to have been involved," the deputy commissioner added. 

Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Paltan Model Police Station, said the police would now investigate the case. "We will try to arrest the accused," he added. 

Mamunul Haque and 16 other leaders of the Islamist group were sued 11 days after the violent clashes which took place following Hefazat-e-Islam's demonstrations in the capital's Baitul Mukarram area to protest Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh.

Mamunul Haque has been accused of ordering vandalism, arson attacks and exploding explosives. 

Khandaker Arifuzzaman, Dhaka South Jubo League deputy office secretary, filed the case against the Hefazat leaders with the Paltan police station 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.   

The accused have been charged with disturbing public peace, destroying properties, inciting crimes and endangering lives.

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

After the prayers, he came out of the mosque and saw a huge gathering of thousands of leaders and activists of the Jamaat, Shibir, BNP and Hefazat on the steps of the north gate of the national mosque.

Led by Maulana Mamunul Haque, they held secret meetings in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, to create chaos ahead of the grand celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence and birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the plaintiff alleged.

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 orders of Mamunul, carried out an attack on him and other devotees on the premises of the mosque.

On the direct instructions of Mamunul Haque, they attacked the plaintiff and others with local and foreign-made firearms, including knives, axes, swords, hammers, swords and sticks. The plaintiff sustained serious injuries during the attack.

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

Police filed nearly 43 cases against more than 20,000 unnamed people over the violence, but no Hefazat top leader was named in the cases.

At least 17 people were killed and hundreds were injured. Government and private properties were damaged as the Islamist group engaged in sporadic clashes with the law enforcement agencies from Friday to Sunday in Chattogram, Brahmanbaria, Dhaka and Narayanganj in the course of their protests and hartal.

Khandaker Arifuzzaman told TBS that he and other witnesses were injured in the incident. He is well now. 

That is why it was a bit late in filing a case after collecting witness evidence, including names, addresses and video footage of the accused involved in the incident. 

He mentioned that the accused had been involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the government by insulting Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, violating the constitution, destroying state properties, vandalising mosques and turning the country into an unstable, ineffectual and fundamentalist state.