Former MP Akhtaruzzaman placed on 3-day remand

Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Gazipur-5 constituency, Akhtaruzzaman, who was arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act in a case filed with the Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station in Dhaka, has been placed on a three-day remand.

Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam passed the order on Monday, August 10, following an application by the investigating officer.

SI Arif Reza of the prosecution confirmed the matter.

Earlier, on Thursday, the investigating officer, Inspector Md Masudur Rahman of the Tejgaon Zonal Team, had applied for a seven-day remand. However, as the remand hearing did not take place that day, he was sent to jail and today was fixed for the remand hearing.

Akhtaruzzaman was arrested by Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police (DB) from a residence in Gulshan on the night of August 5.

On the day, the former MP was produced before the court under police escort. His lawyers argued for the cancellation of the remand, while the state's lawyers presented the justification for his remand. After hearing both sides, the court issued the remand order.

The remand application stated that preliminary interrogation had yielded evidence of the accused's involvement in the incident of the case. A seven-day police remand is required for intensive interrogation to collect information about the names and addresses of other absconding accused involved in the incident, gather information about their anti-state illegal plans, and uncover important information about the case, including the source of the illegal cocktail bombs recovered from their possession.

The case complaint stated that on the morning of June 18, 35-40 leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and Chhatra League, including Nibas Majumdar, brought out a procession in the area adjacent to the Mohakhali Bus Terminal under Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station. During the procession, they raised anti-government slogans, detonated cocktails to create public panic, and engaged in various anti-state activities. Police at Tejgaon Police Station filed the case in this connection.