A Dhaka court on Friday placed retired Lieutenant Colonel Md Afzal Naser, also the former director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), on a fresh three-day remand in connection with a case involving the attempted murder of Jagannath University (JnU) student Anik Kumar Das during the July movement.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ripon Hossain passed the order after the investigating officer, Sub-Inspector KM Abdul Haque of Kotwali Police Station, produced the accused in court with a prayer for a seven-day remand.
State counsel Shamsuddoha Suman confirmed the court’s decision.
Md Afzal Naser, who was arrested on 30 March and has been remanded in various cases since then, was previously on a three-day remand that began last Tuesday.
According to the case statement, the incident occurred on 16 July 2024, during the July movement. As protesters passed the main gate of JnU and approached the Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, activists from the Awami League, Jubo League, and Chhatra League allegedly launched a sudden attack and opened fire.
Anik Kumar Das was critically injured in the shooting.
The victim initially received treatment at National Medical Hospital and was subsequently admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Following surgery, Anik was discharged on 31 July 2024, though four splinters remain lodged in his body.
He later filed an attempted murder case at Kotwali Police Station.
The prosecution alleges that the indiscriminate firing on students was carried out under the direct incitement of the first accused, Sheikh Hasina, and the second accused, Obaidul Quader.
It is further claimed that the attack followed pre-planned instructions from the third accused, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and the seventeenth accused, Afzal Naser.
In the remand application, the investigating officer stated that preliminary investigations have uncovered sufficient evidence of Naser’s direct involvement.
The application emphasised that further interrogation is necessary to unearth the mystery behind the attack, identify the masterminds, determine the whereabouts of fugitives, and recover important evidence and information.
While the previous three-day remand yielded significant leads, the officer noted that additional questioning is required for a more comprehensive investigation.
