A Chittagong Court granted bail to 63 lawyers on Monday involved in clashes following the bail hearing of Chinmoy Krishna Das.
The decision was made by Chittagong's Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Judge Sarker Hasan Shahriar, following a hearing held on Monday afternoon.
Dulal Debnath, former Additional Public Prosecutor of Chittagong, told the media that the 63 lawyers surrendered to the court in the alleged attempted murder case and sought bail.
He said: "After the hearing, the court granted bail. We have been implicated in a conspiracy. Many of us were not even present in the court that day, yet we have been made accused."
The incident began on November 25th when Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested at Shahjalal Airport by members of the Bangladesh Police's Specialized Detective Branch (DB) while traveling from Dhaka to Chittagong.
The next day, he was brought before the 6th Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Kazi Shariful Islam in Kotwali police station, where he was charged with treason. The court denied bail and sent him to jail.
This led to protests by Iskcon followers who clashed with law enforcement. Later, the protesters dispersed and attacked mosques, shops, and various establishments in the court area, causing significant damage to several motorcycles.
Tragedy struck later that afternoon when Advocate Saiful Islam was killed by a group of Iskcon followers in the alley opposite the main gate of the court, near Rangam Convention Hall.
A murder case was filed in the Kotwali Police Station on the night of November 29, naming 31 individuals. The victim’s father, Jamal Uddin, filed the case. Several other cases were subsequently filed at the Kotwali Police Station related to the same incident.