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Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesman for the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, has been denied bail in five separate cases, including one related to the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, in Chattogram.
Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique rejected all five bail petitions after a hearing on Tuesday, according to Assistant Public Prosecutor Md Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury.
In addition to the murder case, police filed three other cases against Chinmoy over the clashes, vandalism and the obstruction of police work on the court premises during the unrest on Nov 26 last year. A fifth case was filed by Alif’s brother Khane Alam, reports bdnews24.com.
APP Raihanul said, “The hearing on the bail petition in the murder case was scheduled for Tuesday. Special bail pleas were filed in the other cases. We opposed bail in all five cases.”
On May 6, the court ordered Chinmoy to be shown arrested in four cases -- three filed by the police and one filed by Alif’s brother.
A day earlier, the court had granted a petition from the investigating officer to arrest Chinmoy in the murder case.
Chinmoy was arrested on Nov 25, 2024, in Dhaka in a sedition case for allegedly disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag.
On Nov 26, Chattogram's 6th Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam rejected Chinmoy's bail application in the sedition case and sent him to jail.
The decision angered members of the Hindu community, who staged a protest around the prison van outside the court.
The protest lasted for around two and a half hours before police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd before taking Chinmoy into custody.
During the protest, several motorcycles and vehicles parked on the court road were damaged. A scuffle also broke out between lawyers and protesters. In the ensuing chaos, lawyer Alif was killed on the Rangam Convention Hall road.
Alif’s father Jamal Uddin filed a murder case on Nov 29 with the Chattogram Kotwali Police Station over his death, naming 31 suspects and accusing 15-16 unidentified suspects.
Khane Alam, Alif’s brother, filed another case naming 116 people alleging an attack on lawyers, use of explosives, and vandalism.
Police filed three other cases over the clashes, vandalism and the obstruction of police work on the court premises. As many as 76 suspects and 1,400 unidentified people were named in those three cases.
Then, on Dec 3, an individual named Mohammad Ullah filed a case naming 29 people, including a ward councillor and Awami League leaders, over the violence on the court premises.