A Dhaka court on Thursday placed three people, including Mizanur Rahman, son-in-law of Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Abdul Gafur, on three-day remand in a case filed over an attack, vandalism and looting at the New Gini Properties housing project in the capital.
The other two accused are Shahriar Mahmud, 60, and Md Shah Alam alias Anik, 47.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Monirul Islam passed the order after hearing a remand petition submitted by police.
Cantonment Police Station Inspector Mohammad Al Amin, the investigation officer in the case, sought five days’ remand for the three accused for questioning.
The prosecution said that the accused needed to be interrogated to identify other people involved in the incident, recover allegedly used firearms and stolen goods, and determine the circumstances surrounding the attack.
The prosecution also told the court that firearms were allegedly used during the attack and that police had recovered weapons and spent bullet casings from the scene.
Defence lawyers opposed the remand plea and sought bail for their clients.
They said that the dispute surrounding the New Gini Properties project was related to a longstanding conflict over the property and denied that their clients had gone there to create disorder.
According to the remand petition, police said the accused had made preliminary statements indicating their involvement in the incident. Investigators said they needed to question them further to identify absconding and unidentified suspects, recover illegal firearms and stolen property, and uncover the full circumstances of the incident.
According to the case statement, around 50 people allegedly entered the New Gini Properties project in South Manikdi near ECB Chattar on 26 September.
The attackers allegedly opened fire and used machetes, knives and sticks during the assault. Several people, including site engineer Md Parvez, were seriously injured, according to the complaint.
The attackers also allegedly vandalised vehicles and looted cash, laptops, computers, BRB cables, cameras and professional media equipment from the project site.
The complaint says the company suffered property damage worth around Tk1.42 crore, while goods worth approximately Tk 1.50 crore were stolen.
The ‘Brownfish’ studio of content creator Salman Muqtadir, located inside the project, was also allegedly vandalised and looted during the incident.
Police said they came under fire after reaching the scene following reports of the attack. Officers then fired five shotgun rounds in self-defence and to bring the situation under control, according to the case statement.
Several suspects were subsequently arrested, and police said locally made weapons and spent bullet casings were recovered.
Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, a director of New Gini Properties, filed the case with Cantonment Police Station. The case names 13 people and includes another 150 to 200 unidentified individuals as accused.
Police have said their preliminary investigation points to a dispute over land possession as a possible background to the incident, but the exact circumstances remain under investigation.
Mizanur was arrested by the Detective Branch from a residence in West Matikata on 28 September and was subsequently sent to jail custody.
He is the son-in-law of Abdul Gafur, the Jamaat-e-Islami MP from Kushtia-2.
