Desk Report,
Court rejects plea to withdraw case against BNP office arsonist in Barguna
The court has rejected the application to withdraw the case filed under the Special Powers Act in the case of vandalism and arson at the Barguna district BNP office. Barguna Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Md. Moniruzzaman gave this order on Monday.
Court rejects plea to withdraw case against BNP office arsonist in Barguna
Meanwhile, the judge has ordered the plaintiff in the case, Shahidul Islam, to show cause for the allegation of shredding court documents. Earlier, on July 23, Shahidul Islam, a member of the Nationalist Lawyers Forum, filed this case against 231 Awami League leaders and activists. After the case, the court ordered the officer-in-charge of Barguna Police Station to submit an investigation report.
The application for the case states that on May 30, 2023, during a doa mahfil on the occasion of the death anniversary of martyred President Ziaur Rahman, the accused surrounded the office with firearms, ramda, chisels, and Chinese axes. Then they attacked and caused widespread vandalism, explosions of cocktails and terror. At that time, BNP leaders and activists were beaten and motorcycles were vandalized and set on fire.
Last Sunday, the Barguna District Nationalist Lawyers Forum decided to send a show cause notice against Shahidul Islam in a meeting. Abdul Wasi Matin, member secretary of the forum, said, “He (Shahidul Islam) is our member. We did not know that he had filed a case. Therefore, we have decided to file a show cause notice against him.”
On the same day, two videos of Shahidul Islam went viral on social media. In the video, he can be heard saying, “I do not know in whose name the case has been filed, the leaders have filed the case through me.”
Senior BNP leaders told Prothom Alo that this is not a party decision. The person who filed the case has done so for personal gain. This has tarnished the party’s image.
Court reporter Nadira Parveen said that the plaintiff has tampered with the court documents after the case was ordered. Therefore, the court has ordered him to show cause and has been asked to respond by September 1.
Regarding the case, Shahidul Islam said that the names and addresses of some of the accused were wrong, so I applied for the case to be withdrawn.
It is worth noting that SM Naimul Islam, son of the former general secretary of Barguna district BNP, late SM Nazrul Islam, filed a case on April 30 in the same incident. In that case, sections of the Explosives Act were added along with the Special Powers Act.
