The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DB) has arrested former textile and jute minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui in a case of crimes against humanity filed in connection with the killing of Hefazet Islam rally on May 5, 2013 at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel of the capital. He was arrested from his Gulshan residence in the capital on Wednesday (July 29) after the International Criminal Tribunal issued an arrest warrant against him.
Dhaka Metropolitan Intelligence Police (DB) Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam confirmed the matter. He said that former minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui was arrested from Gulshan based on the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Tribunal.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, Latif Siddiqui appeared in court in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Dhaka's Shahbag police station. Later, while talking to the journalists in the court premises, he said that he learned in the morning that an arrest warrant has been issued against him in the case filed in the International Criminal Tribunal for the incident centered on the Hefazet Islam rally at Shapla Chattar.
Latif Siddiqui said that if he had not appeared in court, there would have been questions about his going into hiding. He also said that he was planning to surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal next week if the police did not arrest him.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Tribunal has taken into account the formal charges (formal charges) against a total of 41 people, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed, in the case of crimes against humanity filed in the Shapla Chatwar incident. At the same time, arrest warrants have also been issued against the absconding accused.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Nazrul Islam, chairman of the International Criminal Tribunal-2, gave the order after taking into account the formal complaint filed by the prosecution last Monday (July 27).
Among the defendants in the case are former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Dr. Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Shamsul Haque Tuku, Hasanul Haque Inu, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Salim, Dr. Abdur Razzaq, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Hasan Mahmud Chowdhury, AFM Bahauddin Nashim, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Mrinal Kanti Dash, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Dr. Dipu Moni, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Omar Farooq Chowdhury, Salauddin Mahmud and Dr. Imran H Sarkar.
Apart from this, the other accused in the case include Shahriar Kabir, Mozammel Babu, Farzana Rupa, Hasan Mahmud Khandkar, AKM Shahidul Haque, Javed Patwari, Benazir Ahmed, Mokhlesur Rahman, General Aziz Ahmed, Ziaul Ahsan, Mojibur Rahman, Abdul Jalil Mandal, Sheikh Md. Maruf Hasan, Mahbub Hossain, Monirul Islam, Anwar Hossain, Muha. Ashrafuzzaman, SM Mehdi Hasan, Haroon-or-Rashid, Biplab Kumar Sarkar, Syed Nurul Islam, Md. Asaduzzaman, SM Shibli Noman and BM Farman Ali.
Nine accused are currently under arrest in the case. Among them are the former minister Dr. Dipu Moni, former Minister of State for Home Affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku, retired Major General Ziaul Ahsan, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, Chairman of the Advisory Council of the 1971 Assassin-Dalal Nirmul Committee Shahriar Kabir, former DIG Abdul Jalil Mandal, journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu.
Latif Siddiqui's arrest in this case filed in the Shapla Chatwar incident has brought the matter into discussion in the judicial proceedings of the case.
