A Dhaka court sent former secretary Abu Alam Mohammad Shahid Khan to jail in connection with an alleged conspiracy linked to the group Mancha-71 and charges of anti-government activities.
Metropolitan Magistrate Md Saifuzzaman issued the order on Monday (September 8), following Khan’s arrest earlier in the day.
Around noon, detectives detained him from Borak Tower in the capital’s Eskaton area. He was later shown arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Shahbagh Police Station.
After his arrest, investigating officer Sub-Inspector Md Taufiq Hasan of Shahbagh Police produced Khan before the court and sought his confinement in jail.
Although defence lawyers were present, no bail application was submitted. The magistrate subsequently granted the police request and sent Khan to prison.
This case had already seen the imprisonment of several high-profile figures. On August 29, former textiles and jute minister Abdul Latif Siddique and 15 others were sent to jail in the same case. Among them were Dhaka University law professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman (Karzon), along with activists and political figures including Md Abdullah Al Amin, Manjurul Alam, Kazi ATM Anisur Rahman Bulbul, Golam Mostafa, Mohiuddin Islam alias Babu, Zakir Hossain, Tawsiful Bari Khan, Amir Hossain Sumon, Al Amin, Najmul Ahsan, Syed Shahed Hasan, Shafiqul Islam Delwar, Dewan Mohammad Ali, and Abdullahil Kaiyum.
On Monday, the court rejected a bail petition filed on behalf of Anisur Rahman Bulbul. A request for bail for Professor Hafizur Rahman was also filed, but no lawyer appeared during the hearing, and the application was left unresolved.
The case stems from an August 28 roundtable titled “Our Great Liberation War and the Constitution of Bangladesh” organised by Mancha-71 at Dhaka Reporters Unity.
Protesters opposing the platform, which they labelled as an attempt to rehabilitate the ruling Awami League, surrounded former minister Latif Siddique during the event, chanting slogans and branding him a collaborator. Police intervened and later detained the group, charging them under the Anti-Terrorism Act with conspiring to overthrow the interim government.
Detective Branch chief Shafiqul Islam confirmed the arrest, saying Shahid Khan was shown arrested in the Shahbagh case before being presented in court.
SMS/
