Two more cases were filed against militant leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman involved in a string of deadly blasts across Bangladesh. Rahman surrendered on Thursday and was remanded to 10-day police custody under the Arms and Explosives acts. Earlier, 223 cases were filed in connection with militancy and bomb attacks across the country, Home Secretary Safar Raj Hossain told reporters in Dhaka yesterday. Rahman has been accused in at least 150 of these cases. Police filed 154 cases for the August 17 series of blasts and 69 more were added later for bomb attacks elsewhere, he added. A trial court in Barisal on Feb. 9 sentenced Rahman, Bangla Bhai, Molla Omar and Amzad alias Khalid Saifullah to 40 yearsÂ’ rigorous imprisonment under the Explosive Substances Act.As many as 915 were arrested so far for involvement in the attacks, the inspector general of police said. Police have submitted charge sheets in 122 cases, and trials of 61 cases have started, the home secretary said. Verdicts in four cases were given and 22 people were sentenced to death, seven given life term and one 15 yearsÂ’ jail, he added.
Meanwhile, Rahman was detained at the headquarters of the elite security force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in the capital and a special task force for interrogation has been formed to interrogate the militant leader.