Former Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) official Manjil Haider Chowdhury has been arrested in two attempted murder cases.
The cases were filed over attacks and shootings on students and civilians during the anti-discrimination movement in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and Mirpur areas of the capital.
The order was passed on Monday by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam following petitions from investigation officers.
State prosecutor Harun-or-Rashid confirmed the matter.
Haider was arrested from the capital’s Mohakhali DOHS area on 9 April 2026. He has since been shown arrested in several cases filed over killings during the July uprising and under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and was questioned in custody on multiple occasions.
He is currently in jail in another murder case filed with Mirpur Model Police Station.
According to the allegations in the new cases, one was filed over an attack on protesting students and civilians in front of Dhanmondi Government Boys’ School under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station on 18 July 2024. Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and others have been named as accused in the case.
The first information report and police report stated that, following instructions from the accused, attackers used illegal firearms, cocktails, pistols, Chinese axes and sticks to attack protesters. During the incident, a protester sustained gunshot injuries to both legs and was critically injured. Several bullets were later removed from his body through surgery at a hospital.
In addition, allegations have been made that thousands of students and civilians taking part in a procession on the main road near Mirpur Model Police Station on the afternoon of 5 August that year were attacked with tear gas shells, rubber bullets, shotgun pellets and locally made weapons.
During the incident, a youth named Moinul Islam Turjo was shot and fell on the road, after which he was allegedly beaten with rods and sticks, leaving him critically injured. He later received prolonged treatment at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the Combined Military Hospital.
The investigation officers said in their petitions that preliminary investigations had found evidence of former Major Manjil Haider Chowdhury’s involvement in both incidents and his presence at the scenes.
