A Dhaka court on Sunday placed dismissed Lieutenant Colonel Md Afzal Naser on a three-day remand in a case involving an attack on the BNP’s central office and the murder of a party activist named Mokbul.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sefatullah passed the order after the police produced the 61-year-old fired army officer before the court. Naser was brought to court following the completion of a six-day remand in a separate case concerning the murder of one Delwar Hossain in Mirpur during the July movement.
Naser was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on March 30 from a residence in Mirpur DOHS.
During the hearing, Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqi argued in favour of the remand, while defence counsel Shawkat Ullah moved a petition seeking its cancellation.
The remand application stated that Naser allegedly played a significant role behind the scenes in suppressing political opposition and assisted the previous government in various ways while in service.
The police sought the remand to uncover the motives behind the killing, identify other named and unidentified suspects, determine their individual roles, recover illegal firearms and ammunition used in the crime, and identify those who provided funding and orders.
The case was filed on 30 September at Paltan Police Station by an individual named Mahfuzar Rahman. The case names 256 individuals, including Sheikh Hasina, as accused.
According to the case statement, the incident occurred on 7 December 2022, when BNP activists were gathering in Dhaka for a scheduled programme on 10 December.
On that afternoon, a group of 70 to 80 police personnel, led by former DB chief Harun-or-Rashid, Joint Commissioner Mehedi Hasan, and Biplab Kumar, allegedly stormed the BNP central office in Nayapaltan.
The accused reportedly looted furniture, computers, cash, and mobile phones worth approximately Tk47 lakh. During the raid, a crackdown was launched on thousands of BNP activists present at the office and its vicinity, during which Mokbul was killed.
