A Dhaka court on Wednesday placed Diamond World Managing Director Dilip Kumar Agarwala on a four-day remand in a case over an armed attack on protesters and the shooting of Abdur Zabbar in the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in capital’s Uttara area in August 2024.
The court also granted him a one-day remand on Tuesday in a separate money laundering case filed with Gulshan Police.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque passed the order on Wednesday after hearing arguments from both sides.
Investigation officer and Uttara West police Sub-Inspector Md Sumon Mia produced Agarwala before the court and sought a 10-day remand for questioning.
State prosecutor Shamsuddoha Sumon argued in favour of the remand, alleging that Agarwala had financed the Awami League and served as a central leader of the party. He further alleged that Agarwala had worked to thwart the student movement and was involved in shooting protesters.
Defence lawyer Anwarul Kabir Babul opposed the remand and sought bail, arguing that Agarwala was abroad at the time of the incident and could not, therefore, have been involved.
The lawyer also said Agarwala had resigned from the Awami League five years earlier. He questioned the need for remand, noting that the case had been under investigation for a year without any evidence of Agarwala’s involvement being established.
After hearing both sides, the court granted a four-day remand.
According to the case documents, students and members of the public gathered peacefully beside BNS Centre on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in the Uttara West Police Station area on August 5, 2024, during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
The accused allegedly launched an armed attack on the protesters and opened indiscriminate fire on the instructions of the prime accused and others.
A protester, identified as Abdur Jabbar in the case, was shot and sustained severe injuries to the lower part of his spine. He received prolonged treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital before filing the case with Uttara West Police Station on March 27, 2025, after recovering.
In the remand petition, the investigation officer said preliminary evidence suggested that Agarwala had been present at the scene and participated in the attack in collusion with other accused.
The officer said Agarwala needed to be interrogated to uncover the circumstances of the incident, recover the firearms allegedly used in the attack, identify other suspects and facilitate their arrest.
Agarwala is listed as the 31st accused in the case.
Earlier on Tuesday, a court granted him a one-day remand in a separate money laundering case involving allegations of trading gold and diamonds worth around Tk6,781.9 crore through smuggling.
Detective Branch (DB) police arrested him from the capital’s Gulshan area on October 19 in connection with that case.
