Dhaka, May 6 (UNI) Bangladeshi Hindu monk and former ISKCON member Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, who is currently in jail, was shown as arrested today by a Chattogram court in four more cases, thereby ensuring he remains in jail.
Due to security concerns revolving around the matter, the hearing was held virtually around 10:00am.
Chinmoy was presented to the court virtually for Tuesday’s hearing, considering the “suspect’s security and overall situation,” said Assistant PP Raihanul.
Three of the four cases Chinmoy was shown arrested in on Tuesday were filed by police, and related to clashes, vandalism and attacks on cops in the Chattogram court building premises on November 26 last year, while one was filed by the deceased lawyer Alif’s brother Khane Alam.
On Monday, the court ordered Chinmoy Krishna to be shown arrested in the murder case of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif in Chattogram following a petition from the investigation officer.
Talking to the media, Advocate Raihanul said today, "Police filed three cases and Alif's brother filed another case over vandalism on the court building premises, attacking police and general people, crude bomb explosions, and preventing police from discharging their duties during the clashes on November 26."
The investigating officers of the respective cases submitted petitions to show Chinmoy arrested, he said, The Daily Star reported.
On Sunday (May 4), applications were submitted to the Chattogram Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court to show Chinmoy Das arrested in four cases, including the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, following which he was shown arrested yesterday (5 May) in the Alif case.
Islam was killed on November 26 during a violent clash involving police, lawyers, and followers of Chinmoy Das near the Chattogram Court Building. The unrest erupted shortly after the court rejected Chinmoy’s bail plea in a sedition case filed on October 31 and ordered him to jail.
According to police reports, chaos erupted when supporters of Das blocked a prison van transporting him, prompting police to baton-charge the crowd. The confrontation quickly escalated into a violent clash, during which Saiful was brutally beaten and hacked to death.
In the aftermath of the incident, Firoz Khan, former general secretary of the BNP’s Mohora ward in Chattogram, filed a sedition case against Chinmoy and 18 others.
In connection with the killing, police filed three separate cases for attacking police, vandalism, and obstructing law enforcement, naming 79 individuals and accusing about 1,400 unidentified others.
Alif's father later filed a murder case against 31 individuals, while his brother, Khan-e-Alam, filed another case with Kotwali Police Station, naming 115 accused, including 70 lawyers, over vandalism.
Another person, Mohammad Ullah Chowdhury, filed a case accusing 69 individuals of attacking him during the clashes.
So far, police have arrested 40 individuals in connection with the cases. Of them, 11 people -- mostly cleaners -- were held for their alleged involvement in Alif's murder, based on CCTV footage analysis.
Das was granted bail on April 30 by the Chattogram High Court, though it was rejected after the interim government appealed to the Appellate Division seeking a stay on the bail order.
The fresh police cases slapped on Chinmoy, spokesman of the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, come days after Bangladesh’s powerful Students Against Discrimination (SAD) body, that led the movement to oust Sheikh Hasina’s government last year, protested on May 1 against the bail given to Chinmoy Das by the high court, terming it an example of “Indian imperialism”.
SAD leader Hasnat Abdullah demanded justice for the murder of Advocate Saiful Islam Alif, who was killed during a clash over Das’ remand on November 26, 2024.
The students’ party, masterminds of the July-Uprising last year, held a protest demonstration after the Jummah prayers on May 2 in front of Anderkilla Shahi Jame Mosque in Chattogram, to demand a ban on ISKCON and to keep Chinmoy Das in jail.
Hasnat Abdullah, had written on Facebook “I do not consider Chinnmoy’s bail to be an isolated incident. From the very beginning of the Chinmoy case, Indian imperialism has tried to exert unjust influence over this country.
“Was Chinmoy’s bail also granted as a submission to that pressure”
He had warned the government saying, “If you pave the way for Indian aggression by standing on Alif’s blood, the consequences will not be good.”
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