A Dhaka court has sent Jubo Mohila League leader Shilpi Begum to jail in an explosives case, rejecting her bail plea despite her having a one-and-a-half-month-old son in her lap.
Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Aowlad Hossain Muhammad Jonayed passed the order on Tuesday after a hearing. Shilpi was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka around 2pm.
The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Sheikh Nazrul Islam, sought to keep the accused in jail custody, stating that sufficient evidence had been found of her involvement in the case.
Based on a tip, Shilpi was arrested from her residence on Railway Colony Station Road under Tejgaon Police Station on Monday evening around 7:15pmm. She was subsequently given preliminary interrogation.
The investigation has revealed that the accused played an active role in suppressing the anti-discrimination student movement, the petition stated, adding that it was necessary to keep her in jail custody until the investigation concluded.
Shilpi’s lawyer, Farzana Yasmin Rakhi, applied for bail, stating that her client had a one-month-sixteen-day-old son and had undergone a Caesarean section.
After the court rejected the bail and ordered her to be sent to jail, Shilpi was taken out of the court at 3:12pm. She cried on the fourth floor of the court. Later, her baby was placed in her lap, and she fed the child while sitting on a bench on the court veranda.
Expressing regret, she told journalists, “I have to go to jail with my child for political reasons. I can’t take it anymore.”
According to case sources, Tahmid Mubin Ratul, a second-year student of the Institute of Modern Languages at Dhaka University, was an activist of the anti-discrimination student movement. On 16 July 2024, around 5pm, Ratul was shot while protesting in the Chankharpul area. His classmates took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
During his treatment, numerous Chhatra League leaders and activists attacked them. Later, on 23 July at around 6:45 PM, following Shilpi’s instructions, the named accused along with 120-130 unidentified individuals attacked Ratul’s residence with sharp weapons, pistols, and bombs.
They vandalised furniture and electronics, causing damage worth Tk5 lakh, and looted items worth Tk3 lakh. A bomb was detonated on the road in front of the house.
Shilpi and other accused also indiscriminately beat Ratul’s father, Md Sohel Rana, with intent to kill. A case was filed in connection with the incident at Tejgaon Police Station on 25 January 2025.
