The Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court of Dhaka on Sunday rejected the bail plea of Hasanat Reza Karim, a former teacher of North South University who was arrested as a suspect in the Gulshan cafe attack case.Judge Kamrul Hossain Molla of the court passed the order after hearing on Hasnat’s bail plea on Sunday.
Defence lawyer Shah Mohammad Shahabuddin told newsmen, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court refused Hasanat, bail in the case on August 13. He has been on 16 days’ days remand in two rounds so far.
The defence lawyer claimed, Hasanat had been ‘trapped in the scene’ after going to the cafe with his family to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.
“The First Information Report of the case does not contain his name and nothing illegal was found in his possession. Police did not find his involvement while interrogating him during the remand period,” added, the lawyer of Hasanat.
Moreover, the court cleared him of charges under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which allowed arrest without warrant on grounds of suspicion, on September 28, the defence counsel said.
Police Prosecution Wing Assistant Commissioner Nizam Uddin opposed Hasanat’s bail plea.
Militants killed 22 people, including foreigners, at Holy Artisan Bakery and Kitchen, an upscale cafe in Dhaka’s Gulshan area, on July 1. Six, including five militants, were killed in a commando drive that ended the siege the next morning.
Police arrested Hasanat Karim on August 2 under the Anti Terrorism Act over the attack. The counterterrorism and transnational crime unit of the police is conducting the case in which 14 witnesses have testified so far. -Special Correspondent
