A lawyer was hacked to death after a violent clash broke out between law enforcement agencies and Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das’ supporters during his bail hearing In Chittagong Court on Tuesday.
As per reports, the deceased has been identified as Saiful Islam, also known as Alif, 35, an assistant public prosecutor (APP). Reports further suggested that protestors dragged Islam from his chamber and hacked him to death. The clash erupted after a court ordered Chinmoy to be sent to jail.
In the violent clash between law enforcement agencies, lawyers, and followers of Das, six others were also injured.
On Tuesday, the court denied bail to prominent Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, arrested on sedition charges, and sent him to prison, triggering protests by community members in various locations, including the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram.
Bangladesh police on Monday arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a leader of the Hindu group Sammilita Sanatani Jote, from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka while travelling to Chattogram. He was then brought to Chattogram.
Officials said Das was escorted to the court amid tight security as a number of his supporters, including lawyers, chanted slogans protesting his arrest. According to eyewitnesses, Das greeted his supporters gathered at the court premises with folded hands as they chanted slogans and asked them to refrain from chanting religious slogans at the scene.
During the hearing, the lawyers serving as Das’ defence counsels requested Chattogram’s Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam to issue similar arrest warrants for them as well. In response, the judge stated, “I respect your emotions for him.”
Islam then briefly adjourned the hearing. Upon resuming, he asked the lawyers to present the bail appeal for consideration, during which Das also made a statement. Following the conclusion of the arguments, Islam rejected Das’ bail petition.
The judge said since Das was arrested from outside the port city, as per law he is required to be kept under judicial custody for 24 hours.
Das allowed to practise religious rituals as per Jail Code
The court then ordered that Das be taken to jail and directed the prison authorities to allow the Hindu priest to practice his religious rituals as per the Jail Code.
Immediately after the court’s order at around noon, Das’ followers started to protest, disrupting the movement of the prison van carrying him. Protesters were shouting slogans demanding his release, The Daily Star newspaper reported.
Police and members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) fired sound grenades and charged batons at the protesters to clear the way of the van. The van was finally able to leave the court premises at around 3:00 pm, the report said.
Das called on his followers to remain calm from inside the prison van.
“We are not against the state and the government. We, the Sanatanis, are a part of the state… We will not do anything to destabilise the state and destroy peaceful coexistence. We will hold a peaceful protest by controlling our emotions and turning them into strength,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The huge gathering around the prison van carrying Das includes hermits, women and children, online portal bdnews24 reported.
The protesters were chanting slogans, including ‘Jai Sree Ram’, ‘We wanted our rights but got prison instead’, and ‘One two three four, all of them are frauds’. Some of them also blew conch shells, the report said.
Protests broke out demanding Das’ release in different districts including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla, Khulna, Dinajpur and Cox’s Bazar, it said. Hundreds of people from the Hindu community on Monday took to the streets at the Cheragi Pahar intersection in Chattogram, demanding his immediate release. Similarly, the Hindu community members in Dhaka blocked the Shahbagh intersection, protesting the arrest.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council also protested Das’ arrest and demanded his immediate release.
A case was filed against Das and 18 others on October 30 at Chattogram’s Kotwali Police Station leader on the complaint of a leader of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which accused them of disrespecting the national flag in the city’s Laldighi Maidan during a rally of the Hindu community on Oct 25.