Aman sent to jail, Anwar gets bail
BNP leader Amanullah Aman was sent to jail yesterday as his bail petitions in 47 out of 55 arson cases were rejected.
The cases were filed with different police stations in Dhaka during the hartal and blockades enforced by the BNP-led 20-party-alliance since January 5 this year.
But BNP standing committee member MK Anwar was granted bail in six out of 10 arson cases filed against him. Hearings on bail petitions in four other cases were not held.
Another senior BNP leader Abdul Awal Mintoo withdrew his bail petition in the afternoon as the court did not hold a hearing on the petition in a single violence case filed against him with Paltan Police Station.
Aman was granted bail in eight other arson cases. Hearings on bail petitions in 15 other cases were not held yesterday.
Nine separate magistrates heard the bail petitions in presence of the accused at a packed courtroom.
During the hearings, defence lawyers argued that their clients had surrendered as the Supreme Court on July 27 cancelled their High Court bail and directed them to appear before the respective lower courts within a week.
The apex court also said the lower courts were allowed to independently consider bail prayers of the accused BNP leaders after their surrender in the cases.
The cases were filed with Paltan, Motijheel, Lalbagh, Mohammadpur, Rampura, Khilgaon, Wari, Jatrabari, Darussalam, Shahali, Mugda, Bimanbandar, Mirpur and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police stations, accusing the opposition leaders of torching vehicles, assaulting policemen, preventing them from discharging their duties and throwing petrol bombs on passenger buses.
They have also been charged with blasting crude bombs in the three-month time since early January when the BNP-led 20-party alliance observed an indefinite blockade across the country.
Comments