The High Court on Tuesday issued a rule asking the government to explain in two weeks why Bhorer Kagoj editor Shyamal Dutta should not be granted bail in a murder case linked to the student-led mass uprising in July-August, 2024.
The bench of Justice ASM Abdul Mobin and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja passed the order after hearing a bail petition filed by Shyamal, who is the 28th accused in the case filed by Sabuj Miah with the Bhasantek police station on September 11, 2024.
The case names 165 people, including deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Shyamal, accusing them of ordering the killing of Fazlur Rahman, a youth, by shooting during the uprising.
Shyamal and Ekattor TV managing director Mozammel Babu were arrested by police on September 16, 2024, while allegedly attempting to cross the border into India through Dhobaura in Mymensingh.
They were later shown arrested in multiple murder cases linked to the July-August uprising.
Earlier, in February and April, two separate High Court benches issued similar rulings in bail petitions filed by Mozammel in two other murder cases, asking the government to explain within two weeks why he should not be granted bail. The government has yet to respond to the rulings.
One of those cases, filed with the Ramna police on September 5, accuses Mozammel of involvement in the killing of 19-year-old Liza Akter during a protest on July 18. The victim鈥檚 father, Joynal Sikder, brought the charges.
Another case, filed by Ismat Jahan with the Badda police on July 28, accuses 113 people, including Mozammel, of murdering her husband Touhidul Islam Bhuiyan inside Buddha Mandir during the July 19 protests.
Mozammel is currently facing four cases involving the uprising. According to defence lawyer Nazmus Sakib, bail petitions in the two remaining cases are pending in lower courts, with hearings expected later this week.
Shyamal had earlier attempted to leave the country with his wife and daughter but was denied exit at the Akhaura land port in Brahmanbaria on August 6, a day after the ouster of the authoritarian Awami League regime in the mass uprising.
Senior lawyer ZI Khan Panna and his junior Nazmus Sakib appeared for Shyamal and Mozammel before the court.
