A Dhaka court on Tuesday granted a five-day remand for Tejgaon Thana Sramik League President Md Abul Kashem Patwari, 66, also known as Hatkata Kashem, in a case filed over the attack on the motorcade of former prime minister Khaleda Zia in 2015.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam passed the order following a hearing. Case investigation officer CID Inspector Abdul Hannan had prayed for a seven-day remand to facilitate further interrogation.
Earlier, the court had sent Patwari to prison in connection with the same case on 18 August, after he was arrested on 17 August, from the capital’s Karwan Bazar area.
Sub-Inspector Arif Reza of Prosecution Department confirmed his transfer to jail.
During Tuesday’s hearing, defence lawyer Monir Hossain Sumon argued for the cancellation of the remand, which was opposed by the prosecution. The court issued the remand order after hearing both sides.
According to the prosecution, the attack took place on 20 April 2015, in front of Bapex Bhaban, Palli Bhaban, Family Planning Office, and Kabbokash Super Market in Karwan Bazar.
At the time, Khaleda Zia’s motorcade was targeted whilst she was participating in an election campaign on behalf of BNP-nominated mayoral candidate, Tabith Awal, for Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) elections.
According to case documents, leaders and activists of Awami League and its various associate organisations, armed with weapons, formed an unlawful assembly to launch the attack.
Multiple vehicles in the motorcade of Khaleda Zia were vandalised, and several BNP leaders, activists, and CSF security personnel were seriously injured.
Police stated that Patwari was arrested from Karwan Bazar area following a tip-off from a reliable source. They claimed that preliminary interrogation of the suspect had yielded evidence of his direct involvement in the incident.
The remand was sought to arrest other suspects in the case, recover the weapons used during the attack, and proceed with the investigation.
