New Market clash: BNP leader Moqbul on 3-day remand

A court has granted three days remand on BNP leader Moqbul Hossain in custody for his alleged involvement in the deadly clashes between shopkeepers and Dhaka College students at New Market area.

Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mamnur Rashid approved the remand on Saturday after investigators pleaded for seven days.

It is important to question the suspect in custody for a fair investigation and to get the identities of the unnamed people accused in the case, police said.

Moqbul’s counsels Iqbal Hossain, Sohel Akram Samrat and Abul Kalam Azad opposed the remand arguing he was not guilty.

A former president of BNP’s New Market thana unit, Moqbul told the court that the case against him was ‘politically motivated.’

Moqbul, who was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence on Friday, is the prime accused in one of the cases started over the clashes that has claimed two lives.

According to police, he is the owner of the shops where the clash ensued.

New Market Zone Additional Deputy Commissioner Shahen Shah Mahmud said that he has been implicated in a case for instigating violence and obstructing police work.

Four cases have been filed over the clashes so far, including two murder cases which will be investigated by the detective branch of police.