A Dhaka court on Monday placed a leader of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (c) and microbus driver Rubel on one-day remand in a case filed over allegedly planning subversive activities in the capital’s Shahbagh area.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam passed the order after the investigation officer (IO) Manmath Halder produced the duo before the court with a seven-day remand prayer.
The accused are Nasif, the organisational secretary of Sir AF Rahman Hall unit of BCL at Dhaka University, and the microbus driver, Rubel Mia.
According to the case proceedings, Nasif and Rubel had been in jail since their arrest on 2 May.
During Monday’s hearing, state lawyer Shamsuddoha Suman argued in favour of the remand, while defence lawyer Tarikul Islam moved a petition seeking its cancellation.
The First Information Report (FIR) states that Nasif is a student of the Linguistics department (2019-20 session) at Dhaka University and a resident of room 209 at Sir AF Rahman Hall.
The prosecution alleged that even after the government banned BCL, Nasif was attempting to keep the organisation’s activities functional by conspiring with other activists to carry out subversive acts.
According to the charges, the incident took place around 6:10am on 2 May, in front of the Raju Memorial Sculpture near Teacher-Student Centre (TSC).
Around 20 to 25 leaders and activists of the banned organisation had reportedly gathered there with the intent of conducting anti-state conspiracies and propaganda.
The group was allegedly chanting provocative slogans demanding the withdrawal of the ban on Awami League and its students’ wing BCL, as well as the repeal of various “black laws”.
Acting on information, a team from Shahbagh Police Station conducted a raid and arrested Nasif and Rubel red-handed along with a microbus. However, 20 to 25 other individuals managed to flee the scene upon sensing the presence of the police.
Following the incident, Sub-Inspector Md Mainul Islam of Shahbagh Police Station filed a case under Anti-Terrorism Act.
The investigation officer said in the remand plea that the accused need to be interrogated in custody to ensure a proper investigation and to facilitate the arrest of the other fugitive suspects involved in the case.
