Court rejects Chinmoy's bail plea

A Chattogram court has denied bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a former ISKCON leader, during a hearing held under tight security on Thursday.

Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Saiful Islam rejected the bail plea after hearing arguments from both sides for around 30 minutes, said Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Advocate Mofizur Haque Bhuiyan to the media.

Earlier in the day, a team of 11 Supreme Court lawyers arrived at the court around 10:15 am to represent Chinmoy in the high-profile case. Despite their efforts, the court's decision went against their plea.

Earlier, on November 25 afternoon, while he was going from Dhaka to Chattogram, members of the Bangladesh Police's Special Investigation Branch (DB) arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das from Shahjalal Airport. The next day, he was presented before the Metropolitan Sixth Kazi Shariful Islam Court in a treason case filed at the Kotwali Police Station. The court did not grant bail and ordered him to be sent to prison. ISKCON followers protested over this. At that time, the protesters clashed with members of the law enforcement agencies. After noon, the protesters dispersed and attacked various institutions including mosques and shops in the court area. Several motorcycles were also vandalized during this time.

At one stage, Advocate Saiful Islam was killed by a group of ISKCON followers in the alley of Rangam Convention Hall opposite the main gate of the court. A murder case was filed at the Kotwali Police Station in the city on the night of November 29, naming 31 people in this incident. The victim's father Jamal Uddin filed the case as the plaintiff. Several other cases were filed with the Kotwali police station in the same incident.

Earlier, on November 26, when Chinmoy Das' bail was not granted in the magistrate's court, an application was filed in the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court on the same day. The hearing of the application was held on December 3. But no lawyer was present in the court on behalf of Chinmoy on that day. In addition, the state also applied for time for the hearing. In view of these, the court fixed January 2, 2025 for the bail hearing.

Meanwhile, on December 11 and 12 of last year, a lawyer named Rabindra Ghosh came from Dhaka and applied to bring forward the date of Chinmoy's bail hearing. But since the application was not made in due process, the court rejected it and set the bail hearing date on the previously scheduled date.