Tension gripped the Manikganj court premises on Thursday as folk singer and former lawmaker Momtaz Begum faced a hostile crowd, egg attacks, with thunderous chanting slogans demanding her execution during a court appearance.
She had been brought to Manikganj from Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur earlier on the day to appear before the court in several cases filed against her.
As she was being taken back to the prison van following the hearings, leaders and activists of BNP, its student front Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and youth wing Juba Dal, joined by locals erupted into slogans and threw eggs at the once-celebrated artiste.
鈥楽ome people threw eggs while she was being taken to the prison van. I was standing right beside her and even got hit myself,鈥� said Abul Khayer, officer-in-charge of Manikganj Court, recounting the moment of chaos.
Inside the courtroom, legal proceedings unfolded with gravity.
Momtaz was produced before Manikganj senior judicial magistrate Muhammad Abdun Nur in a murder case filed with Singair Police Station.
The magistrate granted a four-day remand for her interrogation.
Later, in connection with another case filed with Harirampur Police Station, Judge Ivy Akter of the Manikganj Senior Judicial Magistrate Court placed her on a two-day remand.
According to court police sources, the murder case relates to a deadly procession in support of a hartal in Gobindal, Singair upazila, back in 2013.
Four people were killed in the incident. Md Majnu Molla, a resident of Gobindal village, filed the case against her on October 25, 2024.
Besides, Delwar Hossain, organising secretary of the BNP鈥檚 Harirampur upazila unit, filed another case accusing Momtaz of involvement in attacks and vandalism at Harirampur Police Station on October 30 last year.
The legal storm surrounding her had already intensified earlier this week when a Dhaka court placed her on a four-day remand in the same murder case.
Once a cherished voice of the people, Momtaz now finds herself at the centre of public outrage and legal scrutiny.
Her appearance at the Manikganj court was no ordinary proceeding as it was a day marked by anger, allegations and a dramatic fall from grace.
