A Dhaka court has granted police three more days to interrogate Dr Shafiqur Rahman in custody after the Jamaat-e-Islami chief was arrested on charges of being involved in militancy.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Syed Mostafa Reza Noor issued the order on Wednesday at the end of his seven-day remand after police appealed for another eight days to quiz the Jamaat amir, according to bdnews24.com.
Inspector Md Abul Bashar of police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit said they would continue to interrogate Shafiqur for “proper investigation” into the charges.
Shafiqur’s lawyer filed a bail plea for Abdur Razzak, SM Kamal Uddin, Shishir Monir and several others. SI Mahmudur Rahman, general registration officer of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, opposed the petition.
On Dec 13, the police's counterterrorism unit received a seven-day remand to interrogate Shafiqur after a team from the Detective Branch had arrested him at his home in the Bashundhara area in the early hours and brought him to the court to request a 10-day remand for questioning.
Law enforcers arrested Shafiqur’s son Rafat Sadiq Saifullah on Nov 9 on suspicion of involvement with banned militant outfit Ansar Al-Islam, naming him as its chief convener in the Sylhet region.
Rafat is also accused of being involved with two Rohingya separatist groups — the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation.
Law enforcers nabbed three members of Ansar Al-Islam - Sejadul Islam Shahab Tanim, Md Zahid Hossain Bhuiyan and Syed Riaz Ahmad - in a raid at Sayedabad area on Nov 1.
The three youths named Rafat in confessional statements given to court. Citing their statements, the CTTC said Rafat had invited them to join the Islamist militant group and a total of 11 people left home in response to his call.
Advocate Azad Rahman, one of the state lawyers said Rafat and two others were sent to jail earlier following three spells of quizzing.