The High Court yesterday directed law enforcement agencies not to harass the five detained BNP leaders or show them arrested in new cases where they were not mentioned as suspects.
The bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Habibul Gani passed the order following writ petitions filed on behalf of the five leaders.
The detained leaders are standing committee members Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Mia, BNP chairperson’s special aide Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas and Sardar Sakhawat Hossain. They were nabbed in December and later shown arrested in cases involving violence during BNP-sponsored anti-government protests.
The court in its order also said the detained leaders could not be shown arrested in any more cases. However, they could be arrested if lawsuits were lodged specifically against them.
The writ petitions were filed by family members over concerns that the BNP men might be shown arrested in other cases.
Meanwhile, Ruhul Quddus Talukdar Dulu, president of Natore district BNP, received bail for six months in the murder case of Jubo League leader Palash Dash. The HC bench of Justice Borhanuddin and Justice KM Kamrul Kader granted the interim bail to Dulu, who has been in jail since the day of the murder on December 8, 2012.