Ctg court transfers probe in case over violence during Chinmoy bail hearing from DB to PBI
The investigation was being conducted by DB North Division Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Mostafa Kamal.
A Chattogram court has ordered the transfer of the investigation from the Detective Branch (DB) to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) of the case filed over the violence and vandalism, which also led to the murder of a lawyer, following the rejection of bail for former Iskcon leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in November 2024.
Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique passed the order today (13 May).
The case was filed by Jaane Alam, the brother of slain lawyer Saiful Islam Alif.
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Earlier, the investigation was being conducted by DB North Division Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Mostafa Kamal.
According to court sources, the DB had long been investigating the case filed over the violence, vandalism, and the killing of Alif during unrest on the Chattogram court premises on 26 November 2024.
However, due to the lack of visible progress in the investigation and dissatisfaction over the probe, the plaintiff sought a change of investigating officer.
The lawyer for the Alif murder case, Assistant Public Prosecutor of the Chattogram Metropolitan Court Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury, told the media that, following a hearing, the court accepted the petition and instructed the PBI to take over the investigation in the interest of a fair and impartial probe.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohammad Mostafa Kamal, the outgoing investigation officer, was present during the hearing.
Court sources said he failed to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the progress of the investigation when questioned by the court.
The investigating agency has so far failed to arrest any of the more than 100 named accused and 400 to 500 unidentified suspects listed in the case.
The court therefore decided to change the investigating agency due to the lack of significant progress in the probe.
On 26 November 2024, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, who had been arrested in a sedition case, was produced in court, where his bail petition in a sedition case was rejected.
The order triggered tension, vandalism, and violence on the court premises. During the clashes, lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was hacked to death in the afternoon.
