The three arrested lawyers charged with financing a Chittagong-based militant group gave confessional statements yesterday under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code in a case lodged with Hathazari police.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Shahidul Islam recorded the statements at noon and later sent them to jail rejecting the bail petitions in the case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Supreme Court lawyers barrister Shakila Farzana and Md Hasanuzzaman Liton, and Dhaka Judge’s Court lawyer Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon – arrested on August 18 from Dhaka – told the court yesterday that they had deposited Tk1.08 crore to an account without knowing that it was owned by a militant leader.
On Monday, Shakila and her associates were shown arrested in the case filed regarding the raid at Shahid Hamza Brigade’s theoretical training centre Al Madrasatul Abu Bakar in Hathazari on February 19.
The trio made similar statements under section 164 on Sunday in an explosives case lodged with Banshkhali police. It was lodged after the police’s elite force Rapid Action Battalion busted Hamza Brigade’s military training camp in a remote hilly area of Banshkhali on February 21. They confessed to depositing money into a bank account but claimed that they were only returning an advocacy fee they had taken from a client in advance.
Daughter of former BNP whip Syed Wahidul Alam, Shakila is the incumbent joint general secretary of the Supreme Court wing of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, a pro-BNP lawyers’ body. Details about her two associates could not be known.
The trio were nabbed by a team of RAB 7 from the capital’s Dhanmondi area for their alleged involvement with the militant outfit – formed by disgruntled Islami Chhatra Shibir members in November 2013.
The contract
In the Hathazari case, Shakila in her five-page statement said that two persons named Masum and Osman Amin of Chittagong went to her chamber on May 30 last year.
They asked her about managing the 350 cases filed against leaders and activists of Hefazat-e-Islam, a hardline Islamist group comprising teachers and students of Qawmi madrasas, and the Islamist parties.
The cases include one filed over the grenade blast incident at Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa that killed three students in 2013. The Qawmi madrasa is run by Hefazat leader Mufti Izharul Islam. He is now in jail.
“They also showed me the documents of Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa case. I agreed to run the case as I found some incompatibilities in police investigations,” the statement reads adding that the duo were supposed to pay her Tk1.2 crore for the purpose.
“Osman and Masum gave me Tk25 lakh in the first week of June last year; Tk30 lakh after five to six days; Tk45 lakh after 10-12 days and Tk20 lakh in the first week of July last year.
“But I failed to secure bail for the Hefazat leaders from different High Court benches. On the other hand, another lawyer Daisy succeeded in securing bail for Mufti Izhar which angered Masum and Osman. They then pressured me to give their money back,” the statement reads.
“Later Masum gave me an account number of Sanjida Enterprise with Dutch Bangla Bank saying that it was his account number.” She deposited Tk25 lakh in the middle of August last year mentioning her name and address in the deposit slip.
“Five or six days later, Liton deposited Tk16 lakh and Tk15 lakh after a few days.” He was instructed to mention his name and address in the deposit slip.
“On September, 2014, I deposited Tk25 lakh using Bapon’s name and address. The remaining Tk12 lakh has not been deposited.”
Shakila said that she had secured bail for the accused in Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa case.
RAB says that the account is actually owned by Moniruzzaman Masud alias Don, the alleged chief of one of the three army wings of the militant group. Shakila claimed that she had learned about the matter only after her arrest.
Chittagong district court’s public prosecutor Abu Hashem said that the confessional statements indicate that they have involvement with the militant group.
“Their bail petitions were rejected as the court assumed that they may flee after securing bails,” he added.
Shakila's counsel Abdus Sattar said that Shakila had been a victim of circumstances. He also blamed media for misreporting on her confessional statement in the Banshkhali case.
