A Dhaka court on Monday denied bail to six leaders of Notun Dhara Bangladesh (NDB), including its Chairman Momin Mehedi and his wife and Senior Vice-Chairman Shanta Farzana, and sent them to jail in a case filed over clashes with the State Dialogue Forum (SDF).
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain denied the bail petition.
Earlier, Advocate Jahangir Alam filed the bail plea on behalf of the accused, which was opposed by the state prosecution. The court denied the bail after the hearing.
The other accused are the party’s Vice-Chairman Dr Nurjahan Neera, Joint Secretary General Monir Zaman, Organising Secretary Atap Mondal, and Haridas Sarkar. The court sent them to jail after rejecting their bail petitions.
Earlier on 4 August, the accused were arrested and sent to jail following a court order.
According to the case documents, the accused, along with 50 to 60 unidentified individuals, allegedly engaged in anti-government activities and chanted provocative slogans while staging a procession in front of the National Press Club last week.
The accused allegedly attacked several activists of the July Uprising and members of the State Dialogue Forum (SDF), including Al Nur Mohammad Ayas, with locally made weapons, sticks, steel pipes, chairs and hockey sticks when they protested against the demonstration.
The prosecution alleged that when the victims, including Ayas, went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment, the accused attacked them there as well. Police later escorted the six detainees, including Shanta Farzana, to the police station under additional security.
The two rounds of clashes took place at around 7pm and 8:30pm on Tuesday night, next to the National Press Club and inside Dhaka Medical College Hospital, respectively. Both sides accused each other of launching attacks.
The clashes allegedly erupted after NDB leaders made derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, religion and July Martyr Abu Sayed.
SDF activists protested against the remarks, leading to the two rounds of clashes. Afterwards, a case was filed with Shahbagh Police Station against the NDB leaders.
