Dipu Moni placed on 4-day remand, Joy on 5-day

A Dhaka court has placed former social welfare minister Dipu Moni on a 4-day remand and former deputy sports minister Arif Khan Joy on a 5-day remand in a murder case.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sultan Sohag Uddin passed the order after Mohammadpur Police Station Inspector Tofazzal Hossain filed a remand petition today. 

Earlier in the day, police sought a 10-day remand for Dipu Moni and Arif Khan Joy in connection with the murder of grocery store owner Abu Sayeed in the capital's Mohammadpur.

Dipu Moni remained calm and composed during the remand hearing, while BNP-affiliated lawyers chanted slogans demanding her execution.

At around 3:25pm, Dipu Moni and Arif Khan Joy were brought to court by the Detective Branch (DB) police. They were first held in the court's lockup before being taken to Court No. 28 on the second floor of the CMM Court building. 

While Joy was handcuffed, Dipu Moni was not, which led BNP-affiliated lawyers to protest and demand the death penalty. 

It took nearly five minutes for the situation to calm down due to the judge's intervention. 

During the hearing, Joy attempted to speak but was unable to do so due to the loud protests from the lawyers. Dipu Moni, on the other hand, was seen standing quietly with her head down, surrounded by female police officers.

After the hearing, the court granted a four-day remand for Dipu Moni and five-day remand for Arif Khan Joy. 

Following the hearing, the accused were taken back into custody. 

On 13 August, a man named SM Amir Hamza filed this case in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury. 

The case named seven individuals as accused, including recently ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader. 

The court accepted the plaintiff's statement and directed Mohammadpur Police Station to register it as an official complaint.

The other accused include former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman, additional commissioner Md Harun-Or-Rashid, and joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarkar.

The case relates to an incident on 19 July, during the quota reform movement, when police fired indiscriminately on students and civilians. Grocery shop owner Abu Sayeed was killed at the 40 Feet intersection in Mohammadpur's Basila area.