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No arrest in a week: HC

Staff Correspondent
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Split verdict orders not harassing Fakhrul, 29 other opposition leaders in 2 cases; BNP says fight to continue in court, on streets
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The High Court yesterday ordered police not to arrest within a week around 30 opposition leaders, including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who are accused in two cases over hartal violence.
The ruling came as a two-member HC
bench delivered dissenting orders on seven separate bail petitions by the accused in the cases, filed for blasts and arson duringthe April 29 shutdown.
Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, the senior judge of the bench, granted anticipatory bail to the accused petitioners till submission of police reports in the cases.
He also issued seven separate rules upon the government to explain in four weeks why the petitioners should not be granted regular bail.
Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder, the other judge, however, directed the accused politicians to surrender before the magistrate's court concerned within seven days and ordered law enforcers not to harass or arrest them dur-ingthat period.
After the court passed the orders, Khandker Mahbub Hossain, one of the defence counsels, told The Daily Star that the accused leaders would surrender before the lower court within a week as per the junior judge's order, although the senior judge granted them bail.
Additional Attorney General MK Rahman said the two judges would now send the bail petitions along with their orders to the chief justice.
Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain will then forward the petitions to a third HC bench for disposal, Rahman said.
Law enforcers cannot arrest the accused petitioners at least for seven days in the two cases following the HC orders, he added.
Earlier on May 3, BNP lawmaker Mahbub Uddin Khokon, an accused in one of the two cases, got anticipatory bail till May 9 from a third benchoftheHC.
The HC bench yesterday passed the orders after hearing arguments from the defence and state counsels for around one and a half hours in presence of the accused petitioners.
The leaders who appeared before the HC yesterday include Mirza Fakhrul, BNP leaders Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, ASM Hannan Shah, MK Anwar, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Aman Ullah Aman, Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, Fazlul Huq, Nazimuddin Alam and Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, LDP President Oli Ahmed, BJP President Andalib Rahman Partha, Jatiya Gonotantrik Party President Shafiul Alam Pradhan and National People's Party President Sheildi Shawkat Hossain Nilu.
No accused leader from Jamaat-e-Islami or its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir appeared before the court yesterday for bail in the cases, court sources said. More than 50 leaders of BNP-led 18-party-alliance were made accused in the cases.
Earlier in the morning, barrister Moudud Ahmed placed the bail petitions before the HC bench on behalf of the accused politicians.
He told the judges that some of the accused had managed to enter the court premises to appear before the bench for bail, but most of them, obstructed by law enforcers at the gates, failed.
If the court allows them to enter the court premises, they can appear before the bench for bail, Moudud said.
The bench asked law enforcers through Deputy Attorney General Khurshid Alam not to bar the petitioners from entering the court, and also fixed the afternoon forbearing the bail petitions.
Around 1:00pm, some accused leaders led by Mirza Fakhrul, Khoka and Mosharraf Hossain entered the court premises.
A section of pro-BNP lawyers led by Moudud Ahmed, Khandker Mahbub Hosain and Supreme Court Bar Association President Zainul Abedin received them at the entrance of the Supreme Court.
Earlier, at different times on Sunday, some BNP leaders, including MK Anwar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra, Ruhul Quddus Talukder, Aman Ullah Aman, Fazlul Huq, Nazimuddin Alam and Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, sneaked into the SC premises.
They hid in different rooms of SCBA at night and gathered at the SCBA president's office around 9:00am yesterday. They appeared before the HC for bail in the afternoon.
Hundreds of leaders and workers of 18-party alliance gathered on the court premises prior to the hearing of the bail petitions.
Additional law enforcers were deployed to avoid any untoward incident.
On obtaining bail and the court order not to harass them, BNP leaders led by Mirza Fakhrul went to the party office at the capital's Nayapaltan.
Party leaders welcomed Fakhrul and other BNP leaders with garlands.
Fakhrul expressed gratitude to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and its leaders and activists for keeping the party well organised in the last few days.
Talking to reporters at the party office, he said the movement and legal battle against the government will continue simultaneously as the government was resorting to repressing the opposition.
“The government filed false cases against us. We will continue our fight in the court against those and so will the people by waging movement," he said.
A total of 30 opposition leaders, including Fakhrul, went into hiding on April 29, soon after two cases were filed with Tejgaon and Shahbagh police stations in connection with the blasts at the secretariat and arson during hartal hours.
Fakhrul said the government had taken the policy of repression to stay in power and destroy democracy, but the effort would not succeed in the face of people's movement.
“The government has not been able to return IliasAliyet. A total of 97 persons went missing in the last 27 months. The government is doing this since it has failed to face us politically," he added.
Party leaders Nazrul Islam Khan, Abdullah Al Noman and Selima Rahman, among others, were present at the briefing with journalists at BNP central office.