A Dhaka court on Wednesday showed Anwar Hossain Naim, organising secretary of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League’s central committee and former president of the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall unit at Dhaka University, arrested in an attempted murder case linked to the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in 2024.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid passed the order after police produced Naim before the court and sought to show him arrested in the case for the sake of the investigation.
Defence lawyer Farzana Yasmin Rakhi filed a bail petition, arguing that repeatedly showing the same accused arrested in successive cases immediately after they secure bail has effectively deprived them of their constitutional right to liberty.
“Once an accused is granted bail in one case, they are immediately shown arrested in another. This is not justice; it is a strategy to keep a person in jail indefinitely,” she told the court.
The lawyer further argued that the practice contradicts the principles of justice, personal liberty and the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Claiming that Naim has remained in custody for nearly two years, she described his continued detention as inhumane and said it has caused immense suffering for his family while eroding public confidence in the rule of law.
According to the case documents, Md Sajib Islam was shot during clashes involving Awami League leaders and activists and members of its now-banned associate body, Bangladesh Chhatra League, near LabAid Hospital on Road No. 3 in Dhanmondi on 19 July, 2024, during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, leading to the filing of an attempted murder case with Dhanmondi Police Station.
In the application, the investigating officer said Naim and another accused, Belal Hossain, are currently in jail in connection with other cases. He sought to have them shown arrested in the present case to ensure a proper investigation.
The court subsequently allowed the prayer.
