Chattogram: A court here today allowed police to interrogate two accused in the sensational advocate Saiful Islam Alif murder case at jail gate. The Judge Mohammad Mostafa of Chattogram 4th Metropolitan Magistrate Court passed the order allowing police to grill two accused persons – Chandan Das and Rajib Bhattachariya following a submission moved by police.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Assistant Public Prosecutor Raihanul Azad Chowdhury confirmed the news, stating that the accused made their confessional statements before the court on December 9 last year, admitting their involvement in the murder. During the confession, they separately mentioned the names of two others-one is some Shiva disclosed by Chandan and another one is Ombai named by accused Rajib.
The Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, Mahfuzur Rahman, informed the court that the accused during their earlier interrogation mentioned the involvement of two other persons-Shiva and Ombai in the murder incident. Consequently, it is required to interrogate the detained accused Chandan and Rajib to confirm the identity and accurate addresses of the persons they mentioned, he stated.
Advocate Saiful Islam Alif, a Supreme Court enrolled lawyer, was brutally slaughtered by supporters of expelled ISKON leader and Hindu Jagoroni Moncha Organizer Chinmoy Khrisna Das on November 26 last year near the Chattogram Court Building. This occurred during a protest following the bail rejection of Chinmoy Krishna Das by a court in Chattogram.
Chinmoy, along with 18 others, faced charges in a sedition case filed with Kotowali police on October 31 last year, accused of desecrating the national flag. Detectives arrested him at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on November 25 and handed him over to Chattogram Metropolitan Police the following day.
Following the bail rejection, Chinmoy’s followers clashed with law enforcers, ransacked court premises, vandalized a lawyer’s car, and attacked the lawyers.