A Dhaka virtual court has rejected the bail petitions of five accused in the case filed for the murder of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) student Abrar Fahad.
Judge Abu Zafar Md Kamruzzaman of the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 passed the order on Sunday after defence lawyers submitted the petitions by email, seeking bail for their clients.
Those denied bail are -- suspended general secretary of Buet Chhtara League Mehedi Hasan Rasel, suspended vice-president of Buet Chhtara League Muhtasim Fuad, Nazmus Sadat, Morshed Amartya Islam, and Mahmud Setu. They all are students of the university.
The court said the accused were directly involved in Abrar’s murder, and some of them had also given confessional statements admitting their part in the incident. Thus, their bail petitions have been rejected.
Abrar, 22, was found dead on a staircase of Buet’s Sher-e-Bangla Hall in the early hours of October 7. He was taken to the dormitory’s Room No 2011 around 8pm on October 6 and beaten mercilessly by Chhatra League men late into the night.
Abrar’s father Barkat Ullah filed the murder case at Chawkbazar Police Station against 19 people, mostly leaders and activists of the Buet Chhatra League unit.
Amid student protests, the university on October 11 banned all political activities on campus and suspended the 19 students accused in the case.
On November 13 last year, the Detective Branch (DB) of police submitted a charge sheet against 25 Buet students in the case. Of them, 22 accused are now in jail, and three have been absconding since the incident took place.