Chinmoy shown arrested in lawyer Alif murder case

Chinmoy Krishna Das, currently imprisoned in a sedition case, has now been shown arrested in the murder case of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, following a court order.

On Monday, May 5, the 6th Metropolitan Magistrate S M Alauddin granted the police's request after a hearing.

The matter was confirmed by Assistant Public Prosecutor Rayhanul Wazed Chowdhury.

He said, “Police submitted an application to show Chinmoy arrested in the Alif murder case, which the court approved. Due to security concerns and overall circumstances, Chinmoy was not physically presented in court but was connected virtually from prison during the hearing.”

According to sources, among the four cases filed at Kotwali Police Station related to Chinmoy’s actions, one is for the brutal killing of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif through hacking and beating, and three others are for obstructing police duties and attacking lawyers and litigants. The hearing for the murder case took place virtually on Monday, while the other three will be heard in a similar manner on Tuesday.

In the sedition case filed at Kotwali Police Station in Chattogram, Chinmoy Krishna Das, a dismissed ISKCON organizer and spokesperson of a group called Sanatani Jagaran Jote, was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on the night of November 25 last year from Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. The next day, November 26, he was presented before a Chattogram court, which ordered his remand to prison.

Following the court’s order to send him to prison, Chinmoy’s followers created chaos on the Chattogram court premises. They held the prison van carrying him for nearly three hours. Eventually, police and BGB dispersed the protesters by baton-charging and throwing sound grenades. This led to violent clashes, which later spread from Laldighi area to Kotwali in the city.

During the clashes, lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was brutally hacked to death. In connection with the incident, his father Jamal Uddin filed a murder case naming 31 individuals.