A Dhaka court on Wednesday sent former joint secretary Syed Jaglul Pasha to jail in a case over allegations that he helped obstruct former prime minister Khaleda Zia from attending a political rally in 2013 by barricading the road outside her Gulshan residence with sand-laden trucks and using pepper spray.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin passed the order after Gulshan Zonal Team Inspector Anwar Hossain produced Jaglul Pasha before the court and sought a 10-day remand. The court fixed Thursday for the remand hearing. SI Mokhtar Hossain of the prosecution confirmed the matter
Jaglul was arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) from his Bashundhara residence at around 1:30am on Tuesday.
According to the case statement, Jaglul was among 111 named accused, along with 250-300 unidentified individuals, who allegedly gathered outside Khaleda Zia's Gulshan residence on December 28, 2013, armed with deadly weapons. They allegedly remained there throughout the day, assaulted BNP leaders and activists, carried out acts of sabotage by blocking roads, and created obstacles to prevent Khaleda Zia from attending a scheduled political rally.
The complaint further alleged that at around 9am on December 29, 2013, when Khaleda Zia was preparing to leave for the rally with her entourage, the accused barricaded the road with sand-laden trucks and other vehicles. Despite repeated attempts to leave, they allegedly prevented her movement and used banned pepper spray with the intent to kill, leaving Khaleda Zia and several leaders and activists accompanying her injured.
The case was filed at Gulshan Police Station in October 2024 by Shariful Islam Shawon, former joint secretary of the Latif Hall unit of Rajshahi University Chhatra Dal.
Jaglul Pasha also faces allegations in the Zia Orphanage Trust case of preparing forged documents and giving false testimony before the court in proceedings involving former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
