A Dhaka court on Monday placed two former central joint secretary generals of Hefazat-e-Islam– Mamunul Haque and Junaid Al Habib– on remand for a total of seven days each in two cases lodged over the group’s mayhem in the capital in May 2013 and March 2021.
The cases filed with Motijheel and Paltan police stations, respectively.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sadbir Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury passed the orders. The two former Hefazat leaders were placed on four days of remand each in the case filed with Paltan police station in connection with Hefazat’s anarchy in Baitul Mukarram area in March 2021, and on three days of remand each in the case lodged with Motijheel police station.
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Police had prayed for each of the accused to be remanded for a total 20 days. Detective Branch of Police inspector Md Kamrul Hasan Talukder submitted a 10-day remand prayer in the case filed with Paltan police station, while Police Inspector Monir Hossain Mollah submitted a 10-day remand prayer in the case filed with Motijheel police station.
Defence lawyers opposed the remand prayers and submitted two separate petitions seeking bail for the accused in the cases, but the court rejected the bail petitions.
When the magistrate asked him if he had anything to say, Mamunul claimed he went to Baitul Mukarram mosque on the day of the incident, March 26, at the request of a high-ranking police official.
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“I was at a mosque in Banglabazar when the police official called and asked me to go to Baitul Mukarram mosque as there had been a clash between police and Hefazat activists there. They asked me to pacify the activists and I went there to do so,” he told the court.
Mamunul was produced before the court on completion of his seven-day remand in a case filed with Mommadpur police station over an attack on a madrasa on March 6, 2020. Junayed was produced before the court on completion of an earlier remand in the case filed with Paltan police station.
Police arrested Mamunul on April 18 from Mohammadpur Jamiya Rahmaniya Arabia Madrasa. On April 19, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Devdas Chandra Adhikari placed him on seven-day remand in case filed over vandalism with Mohammadpur police station in 2020.
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Earlier, Mamunul, who has been in the limelight for some recent controversies, was detained at a resort in Sonargaon with a woman he claimed was his second wife on April 3.
Hefazat leaders claimed locals confined and harassed Mamunul before calling in the police.
Police arrested Junaid on April 17 in a raid on a madrassa in the Baridhara area. On April 18, a Dhaka court placed Junaid, also the former president of the Hefazat-e-Islam Dhaka city unit, on five-day remand in the case filed over vandalism with Paltan police station.
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Earlier, Hefazat-e-Islam chief Junayed Babunagari announced the dissolution of the Qawmi madrasa-based organization's central committee when its leaders, activists, and supporters are being arrested in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, every day.
Nineteen top Hefazat leaders have been arrested so far over the protests and violence orchestrated by the organization's supporters and activists across the country against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bangladesh visit.
At least 77 cases have been filed against Hefazat leaders and activists over clashes and vandalism. More than 69,000 people have been accused of the incidents.
