A Dhaka court on Wednesday placed BNP leader Abu Sayeed Chand on a two-day remand in a case filed on charges of threatening to Kill Awami League chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a public speech.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Hasibul Haque passed the order after Chawkbazar police station Inspector Md Zakir Hossain, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, asked for a 10-day remand after producing Chand before the court.
Md Zakir Hossain applied for remand on May 28, following Chand's arrest under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
A Chhatra League leader named Ashikur Rahman Anu filed the case against Chand at the Chawkbazar police station on May 25.
In the remand application, the investigation officer described how the accused, Abu Sayeed Chand, 65, publicly issued a death threat against a head of government, including a threat to "send her to the grave".
The officer raised questions about who else was involved in this statement, and whether there were anonymous conspirators orchestrating it from within or outside Bangladesh.
Identifying the core planners of the terrorist act, arresting them, and identifying other unknown accused are crucial for a thorough and impartial investigation of the case, thus necessitating his detention for ten days, Md Zakir Hossain urged in his application.
On May 19, Abu Sayeed Chand threatened the prime minister at a public rally of metropolitan and district BNP at Shibpur High School ground in Puthia Upazila of Rajshahi as part of the central program.
"No more 27 or 10-point demand, just one point now – send Sheikh Hasina to the grave! We will do whatever is necessary to get Sheikh Hasina to resign,” he said.
Meanwhile, a video of the threat went viral on social media, triggering a storm of protests among Awami League leaders and supporters.