Investigation into the CPB bomb blast case has taken a new turn after a three-year lull as Mufti Abdul Hannan, operations commander of banned Harkatul Jihad (Huji) Bangladesh, was shown arrested in the case and remanded for 10 days yesterday.The case was filed for bomb blasts on a rally of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) at Paltan Maidan on January 21, 2001. Five people were killed and 50 others injured in the incident. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) accompanied by Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) produced Hannan before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court, Dhaka at 1:30pm yesterday under a tight security and submitted a petition for showing him arrested in the case. The CID also submitted a petition for placing him on a ten-day remand for interrogation in connection with the blasts.
On completion of Hannan's eight-day remand in the Ramna Batamul carnage case, CID Inspector Abu Hena Mohammad Yusuf, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, said Hannan gave important information about the carnage and should be confined in jail until the investigation completes. In the forwarding report placed before the court, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police and IO of the CPB bomb blast case Syed Momin Hossain said Hannan might be involved in the incident. The Huji leader needs to be intensively interrogated to find out vital clues to the bomb attack and the whereabouts of his accomplices responsible for it, the IO added. After the hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate Shafiq Anwar granted the petition for showing Hannan arrested in the case and placed him on the remand.