The Detective Branch of police on Wednesday night arrested ruling Awami League lawmaker Manjurul Islam Liton at a house in the capital’s Uttara on charge of attempted murder of a nine-year old boy in Gaibandha.
Manjurul was arrested after the earlier on the day stayed a High Court order that asked him on Monday to surrender to Gaibandha Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court by October 18.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s deputy commissioner (Detective Branch) Sajjadur Rahman told New Age that a detective team arrested Manjurul at the house of one of his relatives at about 10:00pm.
The police took 12 days to arrest Manjurul, a lawmaker from Gaibandha-1, after he had allegedly shot at Shahadat Hossain Sourav in the legs on Bamandanga-Sundarganj road at BRAC intersection at about 6:00am on October 2.
Police said that Manjurul, also the Sundarganj upazila Awami League president, had gone into hiding after Shahadat’s father Saju Mia filed the case with Sundraganj police station on October 3 accusing Manjurul of attempting on the life of his son.
‘Manjurul is now in DB custody, but we will send him to Sundarganj police station tonight where the case was filed,’ Sajjad said at about 11:15pm.
Sundarganj police station officer-in-charge Israil Hossain said that a team of the police station would take Manjurul to Sundarganj from Dhaka and would produce him before the Gaibandha Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court today.
The Appellate Division stayed the Monday’s High Court order.
The apex court vacation judge in-chamber, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order after the government appealed against the High Court order.
Attorney general Mahbubey Alam said that the inspector general of police informed him that the police would arrest the lawmaker as early as possible.
Home minister Asaduzzamnan Khan said that the administration would take action against Manjurul as per the court order.
‘No one is above the law…The administration will now take action against the MP in accordance with the court instructions,’ he said, responding to reporters’ questions at the ministry.
During the hearing, Manjurul’s counsel Moksadul Islam argued that Manjurul might go into hiding again if the High Court order asking him to surrender was stayed.
The apex court said it had nothing to say if the lawmaker went into hiding showing disrespect to the law of the land.
On Tuesday, the government filed a petition against the High Court order issued on Monday by the vacation bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Bhisma Dev Chakravarty asking Manjurul to surrender in two cases.
The High Court passed the order disposing of a petition filed by Manjurul on Sunday seeking anticipatory bail.
Manjurul also faces another case filed on October 8 against him and nine of his associates on charge of vandalising a house and looting its corrugated iron sheet roofs and furniture at a Gaibandha village after shooting the child.
The attorney general argued that the High Court order contradicted an Appellate Division verdict that prohibited issuance of any such directive on a plea for anticipatory bail.
The lawmaker, who hit headlines for shooting at the schoolboy, should have been handed over to the police as his plea for anticipatory bail was rejected, he said.
Source: New Age
