A Dhaka Court on Wednesday granted 10-day remand for each Salman F. Rahman, former private sector and investment advisor to ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and former Law Minister Anisul Huq, in a case in connection with the murder of Shahjahan Ali, an employee of a doormat shop in Dhaka's New Market area.
The order was issued by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mamunur Rashid after a hearing on Wednesday evening, August 14. The two were presented in court earlier at 6 PM.
Previously, on Tuesday, August 13, they were arrested from the Sadarghat area of the capital while trying to flee via waterway, based on secret information.
At the time of arrest, Anisul Huq was found in possession of various currencies, including 17,592 USD, 726 Singapore dollars and three red diplomatic passports issued in his name.
Besides, the authorities recovered 12,624 USD, 620 Swiss francs, 8,500 UAE dirhams, 1.3 million Uzbekistani currency, 11,650 Saudi riyals, 779 Singapore dollars, 150 British pounds, 1,321 euros, 50,000 Bangladeshi taka, 6,230 Bhutanese currency, 2,000 Indian rupees, 3,220 Thai baht, five green passports under his name, one red diplomatic passport, and a black satellite phone from the possession of Salman F. Rahman.
On July 16, a case was filed by Shahjahan Ali’s mother, Ayesha Begum, accusing unidentified persons of her son’s murder, which occurred during the quota reform movement in New Market. The case named unknown individuals as the accused.
According to the complaint, Shahjahan Ali worked at a doormat shop near the Balaka Cinema Hall on Mirpur Road under New Market Police Station. On July 16, he came to work at 9 AM as usual. Later that evening, the complainant received a call from an unknown person informing her that Shahjahan was critically ill and had been admitted to Popular Hospital in Dhanmondi. Upon arrival, she was told that Shahjahan had been transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment. She later identified her son’s body at the hospital’s morgue.
The complaint further stated that unknown anti-quota activists, along with armed members of Jamaat, Shibir, and BNP, marched towards New Market from the Science Lab Crossing, vandalizing and setting fire to structures along the way. The attackers assaulted Shahjahan Ali near Kader Market on the opposite side of Teachers Training College on Mirpur Road, striking him on the head and other parts of his body. Severely injured, Shahjahan was taken to Popular Medical College Hospital by bystanders, but due to his critical condition, he was transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead at around 7:05 PM on July 16.
After the 11th national parliamentary elections, Salman F. Rahman, a former MP from Dhaka-1 constituency and industrialist, was appointed as the private sector and investment advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He was retained in this position after the 12th parliamentary elections. Anisul Huq was elected as the MP for Brahmanbaria-4 (Kasba-Akhaura) constituency in the 10th parliamentary elections in 2014 and was appointed as the Law Minister. He continued in this role until recently.
Eggs thrown at police van escorting Salman, Anisul to court
Lawyers and general people outside the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka on Wednesday threw eggs at one of the police vans in the column of vehicles carrying Salman F Rahman, private industry affairs adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and Anisul Huq, former law minister.
The incident took place around 6:15pm when police vehicles entered the court premises ahead of the hearing.
The crowd was seen throwing eggs at a van and chanting "Bhua Bhua".
