Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury put on 4-day remand

Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's energy, mineral and power adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has been remanded for four days in connection with the killing a person in the capital’s Badda during the anti-government movement.

Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court magistrate Ali Haider passed the order on Wednesday.

Earlier, the adviser to the former prime minister was produced before the court after being shown arrested in a case filed with the Badda police station over the killing of a person named Sumon Sikder. The police appealed for a 10-day remand of him.

The remand plea said police found evidence of Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury being involved in the killing of Sumon Sikder. Therefore, it is quite important to interrogate him in remand to learn about the other absconding accused in the case. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury’s lawyer appealed for his bail.

After hearing both sides, the court granted a four-day remand for the former government official.

Earlier, on Tuesday night, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury from the Gulshan area of the capital. With that, the number of former ministers, MPs, advisers and top and local Awami League leaders, who have been arrested after 5 August, reached 24. This also includes Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment affairs adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury started his job as a Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) official. After serving different ministries, he went to retirement in 2002. He had been serving as the energy, mineral and power adviser to the prime minister since the Awami League took over in 2009.