Former DGFI officer Major Manzil Hyder Chowdhury has been placed on a fresh four-day remand in a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act after being arrested in a murder case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan passed the order on Sunday following a petition by the investigating officer, state prosecutor Shamsuddoha Suman confirmed.
On the day, Ramna Detective Branch Sub-Inspector Md Amzad Hossain Talukdar sought a seven-day remand.
The accused had been on a five-day remand in the anti-terrorism case since Tuesday. Earlier, he had spent 12 days on remand in a murder case.
During the hearing, state prosecutor Shamsuddoha Suman argued that investigators had obtained significant information during earlier questioning, but it remained incomplete. He alleged that the accused had been involved in the torture of the current Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and said further remand was needed to identify other accomplices.
Defence counsel Kamal Hossain sought cancellation of the remand.
He told the court that the accused had already been kept on remand for 12 consecutive days in the murder case and was later shown arrested again in the anti-terrorism case while in custody. He argued that there was no link between his client and the allegations.
He said the accused served in the Bangladesh Army for 21 years and would not have remained at the rank of Major during the Awami League period if he had been dishonest. He added that his client is seriously ill and suffers from heart block. He denied any involvement in any military uprising and sought rejection of the remand in the interest of justice.
Major Manzil Hyder was arrested on 9 April from the Mohakhali DOHS area. In connection with the killing of businessman Abdul Wadud, he was granted a four-day remand the following day in a case filed with New Market Police Station. He was later placed on a further three-day remand on Monday.
After completing 12 days of remand in three phases, he was produced before a court on Wednesday, where Ramna Zonal Team Inspector Md Amzad Hossain Talukdar sought to keep him in jail.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Monirul Islam ordered that he be sent to jail.
Later, he was shown arrested in a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act filed with Ramna Model Police Station, and a seven-day remand was sought by Detective Branch Dhanmondi Zonal Team Inspector Md Amzad Hossain Talukdar.
