Bangladesh News

Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) military commander Ataur Rahman Sunny and Gazipur unit regional commander Enayet Ullah Jewel roughed up several Rab men on the premises of a Dhaka court yesterday after the court sentenced them to 60-years’ jail in two cases.

The scuffles broke out when the media men drew near the convicts to have their comments on the verdict of the cases filed for possessing illegal firearms, ammunition and explosives.

As the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel obstructed Sunny and Jewel from expressing their comments, the angry JMB leaders started to kick the law enforcers who in turns began to beat them up.

”We’re not afraid of execution or imprisonment. The Muslims of this country will establish Islamic rule here, no matter how many of us are executed,” Sunny was shouting at the top of his voice as he was being dragged to the prison van along with Jewel.

When photojournalists rushed there for taking photographs, the police and Rab men assaulted them leaving several of them wounded.

Earlier in the day, Judge Monzurul Bachhid of the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court handed the down the punishment to the convicts in a packed courtroom.

However, three other JMB men were acquitted of the charges, even though there were specific allegations against them, the prosecution alleged.

The cases, one under the Arms Act and the other under the Explosive Substances Act, were filed with Sabujbagh Police Station on December 14 last year.

The prosecution, unhappy with the verdict, would decide whether they would appeal against it after getting the judgement copy, Assistant Public Prosecutor Shahidul Islam Sardar said.

The acquitted are Sunny’s friend Fariduzzaman Swapan, Kamrul alias Sumon alias Zahidul and Alamgir alias Bijoy. Swapan provided funds to JMB and the other two safeguarded the arms, ammunition and explosives, the prosecution alleged.

On September 17, another Dhaka court sentenced five JMB members to 78 years’ rigorous imprisonment in the same category cases filed in January this year.

In its verdict, the judge mentioned that the three were acquitted due to lack of proper investigation into the matters, saying the investigation officers (IOs) did not make the landlords of the acquitted witnesses in the cases. Moreover, the IOs failed to prove the allegation against Swapan as a money supplier to the JMB.

After his arrest on December 13 last year, Sunny confessed to Rab that his close friend Swapan is their fund provider and he lived at a rented house in Kalabagan. On his information, Rab arrested Swapan from there the next day.

Moreover, it was found that Swapan sent money through TT to Ashraful Alam, another JMB leader, who was arrested in Chittagong during the suicide bomb attacks on policemen.

During the trial of the cases, Sub-Inspector ABM Rashidul Bari of Rab-3 gave his statement saying that witnesses of the adjacent area told them that the Bijoy and Kamrul stayed at the rented house and they fled the scene sensing their presence.

In addition, three high officials including a vice-president of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited Local Office, gave their statements before the court saying that Swapan has a savings account with their bank and he sent Tk 1,42,000 through three TTs to another JMB member in Chittagong on three dates last year.

On March 14, Rab pressed charges against Sunny and four others in the two cases, showing 36 people as prosecution witnesses.

Rab dropped the names of Monir and Abul Khair, the landlords of Sunny, from the charge sheet as their involvement with JMB could not be proved.

Sunny, also a member of the JMB top tier Majlish-e-Shura, masterminded the August 17 serial blasts across the country. He was arrested at the Polytechnic Institute in Tejgaon on December 13 last year.

Leads obtained from Sunny prompted Rab to seize 56 items of arms, ammunition, explosives, bomb-making materials, and books on jihad from the house of Abul Khair at South Manda in Sabujbagh area of the capital.