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Police have remanded Dilip Kumar Agarwala, the managing director of Diamond World Ltd, over the killing of Hridoy Ahmed, a teenager who was murdered in Dhaka’s Badda during the quota reform movement.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mehedi Hasan placed him on a three-day remand on Wednesday, bdnews24.com reports.
On Tuesday, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) raided Diamond World’s Gulshan 1 branch in Dhaka and arrested him. Agarwala is also being investigated for allegations of money laundering.
Badda Police Station SI Md Sadek, an investigating officer, sought a seven-day remand for questioning Agarwala, a day following his arrest.
During the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, Hridoy, a 16-year-old was shot dead in front of Badda’s BRAC University on Jul 19.
According to Prosecution Court Inspector Md Asaduzzaman, Agarwala is the 20th accused in this case and initial investigations reveal his involvement with the murder. He also said that Agarwala must be remanded to properly investigate the case and arrest the rest of the accused.
Md Waliul Islam Tushar, the plaintiff’s lawyer told bdnews24.com: “This is not a case of hearsay. Shahadat Hossain, the plaintiff himself is a victim. Shahadat had to get to safety when shots were fired in front of BRAC University that day. But the deceased, Hridoy, could not get to a safe place. He died of gunshot wounds. It was a horrible sight.”
While speaking of the allegations against Agarwala over Hridoy’s death, Tushar said: “On that day (Jul 19), various firearms including shotguns and sawed-off rifles were fired at the students following his orders in front of BRAC University. Agarwala is a wealthy man. He has a lot of domestic and international connections. He needs to be remanded to know more about these connections.”
Supreme Court Adv Azizur Rahman Dulu, who appealed for the remand order to be withdrawn, told bdnews24.com: “The investigating officer has clear instructions to present the CD (case docket) of each day along with the remand application. I humbly request to check whether he has presented the CD to the court. I won't talk about the incident. I will only talk about the legal issues.”
While referring to the BLAST v Bangladesh case, Dulu said: “My client is sick. I am appealing for his remand order to be withdrawn.”
The judge placed Agarwala on a three-day remand after hearing both parties.