A Dhaka court on Monday placed former environment minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury on a five-day remand in connection with the killing of BNP activist Makbul in 2022.
According to the court correspondents of several media outlets, Mahbubur Rahman, the additional chief magistrate of the CMM court, issued the remand order after the police presented Chowdhury in court seeking a 10-day remand.
The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police detained Saber from the Gulshan area of the capital on Sunday.
According to the media report and witnesses, when police were bringing Saber Hossain Chowdhury to the court, protesters gathered, shouted slogans, and threw eggs at him.
The protesters also harassed and attacked the followers of Saber Hossain Chowdhury who were present at the court premises at that time.
This is not the first time the former Ministers and lawmakers of the Awami League have faced such protests at the court premises. Former Minister Dipu Moni, Anisul Huq, and former Adviser of Sheikh Hasina Salman F Rahman also faced protests at the Dhaka court premises after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's regime.
Saber Hossain was subsequently shown as arrested in a murder case filed with the Paltan Model Police Station on September 30 concerning the death of Makbul, who succumbed to a bullet wound sustained at the BNP party office in 2022.
Dhaka Tribune has obtained a video showing Afroza Abbas, who contested in the national parliament election from the same constituency against Saber Hossain for Dhaka-9, saying in the video that the victim’s family members should file a case against Saber Hossain and other activists of Awami league of that area for the charge of Makbul murder.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, a former businessman educated in law, politics, and economics in the UK, was elected as a member of parliament in 1996 at age 35.
He was the youngest government member, holding two deputy ministerial posts between 1999 and 2001.
In 2001, Saber became the political secretary to Sheikh Hasina, then leader of the opposition in parliament.
In 2002, under the BNP-led government, he was accused of several criminal charges and arrested on 20 October.
In a 2003 statement, Amnesty International identified him as a prisoner of conscience, detained without formal charges due to his vocal criticism of the ruling party.
Reelected in 2008, Saber passed the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, which was passed in 2013 at the parliament.
In 2014, he became the 28th president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), defeating three other candidates, including Australia's Speaker Bronwyn Bishop.
Chowdhury served as a member of parliament for Dhaka-9 from 2008 to 2024, former president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, and was the environment, forest, and climate change minister from January to August 2024.
Saber is the latest among several Awami League leaders and former ministers arrested following the party’s ousting on 5 August, after the student-led uprising in July.
At least 47 high-ranking officials, including ministers, advisers, MPs, former IGPs, and influential Awami League figures, have been detained since the party fell from power.
