14 BNP men asked to surrender by six weeks: HC

The High Court (HC) on Tuesday asked 14 BNP leaders and activists implicated in the cases filed over the clashes between the Dhaka College students and New Market traders to surrender before the lower court by six weeks.

A HC bench comprised of justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Md Selim passed the order.

The 14 leaders and activists are: Mizan, Amir Hossain Alamgir, Hasan Jahangir Mithu, Harun Hawlader, Shah Alam Shantu, Shahidul Islam Shahid, Mirzan Bepari, Asif, Rahmat, Billal, Monir, Julhas, Babul and Japani Faruk.

They all sought anticipatory bail on today, Tuesday, appearing before the court.

Lawyer Kawsar Kamal took part in the hearing on behalf of the BNP leaders and activists while assistant attorney general Md Mizanur Rahman represented the state.

Following the hearing, Kawsar Kamal told Prothom Alo that the HC ordered 14 people among 24, including BNP leader Makbul Hossain, sued in a case filed by police to surrender before the lower court within six weeks. They will be on bail during this period.

The 23 no. accused of the case named Mintu passed away two years ago while the 7 no. accused named Tipu, former Chhatra Dal leader, has been living in Japan for seven years.

He alleged that the case was filed from political vendetta.

On Monday midnight, students of Dhaka College locked in clashes with shopkeepers and employees of New Market. The clashes continued throughout Tuesday. Two people died in the violent clashes.

One of them was a delivery man named Nahid Hossain. A video showing Nahid getting beaten up and hacked to death has gone viral on the internet. A number of helmet-wearers were seen carrying out the harrowing attack.

The law enforcement agencies have already identified a few of the perpetrators.

Four cases have been lodged in this incident, accusing 1,574 people. Of them, 24 accused were named in the cases while the rest unnamed. On 23 April, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate court granted police a three-day remand to interrogate Makbul Hossain in a case filed with New Market police station.