BCL leader Tanna granted bail in goat-snatching case

The High Court on Tuesday granted bail for four weeks to the Mohammadpur thana unit president of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) in a case filed over snatching sacrificial goats before Eid-ul-Azha in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, reports UNB.

BCL is the student wing of ruling Awami League.

The HC bench of justice Obaidul Hassan and SM Kuddus Zaman passed the order when the BCL leader, Mujahid Azmi Tanna, surrendered before the court and sought bail.

Anjuman Ara Begum who stood for Tanna said they filed a bail petition on 18 August.

On 11 August, senior warrant officer of Rapid Action Battalion-2 M Farukh Hossain filed the case with Mohammadpur police station against nine people, including Tanna.

According to the case statement, five goat traders brought a total of 212 goats in a truck from Jashore and Jhenaidah to the capital in the morning of 11 August to sell those ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

When they reached Babar Road in Mohammadpur, they were taken to Jahuri Mahalla along with their truck and kept confined to a club there.

Later, a patrol team of RAB rescued the traders along with the truckload of goats.

They also detained three alleged snatchers – Yasir Arafat, Jahidul Islam and Mohammad Raihan -- from the spot and handed them over to police.

Later, they were placed on a three-day remand when they confessed to their crime, said Sajib Ghosh, investigation officer of the case.

He said BCL men set up a makeshift cattle market by their office at Babar Road and they used to extort money from traders after holding them hostage. “Traders were also forced to take goats to their haat,” he said.