Jamaat leader Salim, 7 others remanded

A Dhaka court today granted a five-day remand to Jamaat-e-Islami's Dhaka Metropolitan North Ameer Muhammad Selim Uddin, who was arrested from a secret meeting along seven others in Bashundhara Residential area of the capital on Friday evening.

The other seven accused in the case-- Jamaat-e Islami Mahanagar Majlish member Abul Bashar, former General Secretary of Cumilla District Chhatra Shibir Mohammad Yusuf and Jamaat-e-Islami activists Anwarul Haque, Shabbir Ahmed, Engineer Mohammad Sirajul Islam and Abdul Hakim Sarkar-- were granted two-day remand each.

As they were produced before the court this morning, the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case DB Police Inspector Sameer Chandra Sutradhar applied for a 10-day remand of Selim and different period remands for the rest.

However, the lawyers of the accused pleaded the court to cancel the remand and grant them bail.

After hearing both the parties, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Sheikh Sadi scrapped bail plea and granted them remand for different terms.

Earlier on Friday, Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and activists gathered in a 'secret meeting' inside a building in block- D, road no- 29 in the city's Bashundhara Residential Area.

According to the case, they gathered at the confidential meet with the aim to spread terror activities among the public, overthrowing the government by conspiracy, sabotaging government buildings and vehicles and creating menace.

A case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Bhatara Police Station in the capital on Friday night.