A Dhaka court on Saturday afternoon placed Motahar Hossain, an accused in the sensational “triple murder” in Dhaka’s Mouchak-Malibagh area, on a fresh three-day police remand in a case filed over the murder of Md Jasim during the July movement.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Monirul Islam passed the order following a hearing, after the investigating officer, Md Saiful Islam, sub-inspector of Uttara West police station, produced the accused in court upon completion of a four-day remand and requested a fresh seven-day remand.
Defence lawyers including Arshaduzzaman sought his bail during the hearing, while no lawyer represented the state, after which the court granted the three-day remand.
In the remand application, the investigating officer mentioned that Motahar is a close associate of Bahauddin Nasim, joint general secretary of Awami League, and acted as a financier to resist the student movement on 5 August 2024.
The investigating officer said, as per court orders, medical examinations of the accused were conducted before and after interrogation, and he was kept in lock-up of the Detective Branch (DB) office of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in accordance with rules under instructions from higher authorities.
He was interrogated extensively regarding the incident with the assistance of the TFI cell of the DB office, following High Court directives.
The application mentioned that Motahar provided several important pieces of information during questioning but concealed many other key details related to the incident, which are currently being verified.
Seeking a seven-day remand, the investigating officer submitted that fresh interrogation is necessary to uncover the actual mystery behind the case, arrest other accused persons, collect their details, recover the weapons used in the incident, and obtain further information from Motahar.
According to the case details, Md Jasim suffered bullet wounds in front of the Dhaka Bank branch on Jasim Uddin Road under Uttara West police station on 5 August 2024, and died the following day while undergoing treatment at National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation.
The victim’s wife, Farida, filed the case on 11 December 2024, naming former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, and other leaders and activists of the Awami League and its associate organisations as accused.
Motahar Hossain has been listed as accused number 196 in the first information report (FIR) of the case.
