Court rejects petition to file case against Dr Yunus, 26 others

A Dhaka court on Thursday rejected a petition seeking to file a case against former interim government Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, former Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul, NCP leader and MP Hasnat Abdullah and 24 others over the vandalism of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi-32 in the capital.

Tamanna Chowdhury Priyanka filed the petition before Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana’s court on Thursday (August 20).

After recording the complainant’s statement, the court kept the petition pending for consideration.

Later, it rejected the petition, saying there were no sufficient grounds or materials to take cognizance of the allegations, prosecutor Shamsuddoha Sumon said.

The other accused named in the petition are Dr Rezwana Hasan, former Adviser to the Ministry of Environment and Disaster Management; Shafiqul Alam, former Press Secretary; Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, former Home Affairs Adviser; Mustafa Sarwar Farooki, former Adviser for Cultural Affairs; NCP Convener Nahid Islam; NCP Spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan; Mahfuz Alam, former Adviser to the interim government; NCP Member Secretary Akhter Hossain; NCP’s chief organiser for the southern region and MP Md Hasnat Abdullah; NCP leader and Noakhali-6 MP Abdul Hannan Masud; NCP’s chief organiser for the northern region Sarjis Alam; NCP Senior Joint Convener Samanta Sharmin; NCP-nominated MP for a reserved women’s seat Nusrat Tabassum; Dr Tasnim Zara, former NCP Senior Joint Member Secretary and an independent candidate in the 13th parliamentary election; and NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari.

Besides, NCP Senior Joint Convener and Convener of Dhaka North City NCP Ariful Islam Adib; NCP Joint Member Secretary Saleh Uddin Sifat; online activist and political analyst Pinaki Bhattacharya; online activist Ilias Hossain; activist Konak Sarwar; Col (retd) Nur Nabi; Tahrima Jannat Surabhi; Md Milon; Fahim Al Chowdhury; and Abul Kalam Azad were also named as accused.

According to the petition, 3,000 to 5,000 unidentified people allegedly gathered illegally, armed with hammers, sticks, locally made weapons and incendiary materials, and attacked the museum at the instigation of the accused.

The petition alleged that the attackers vandalised and set fire to the museum at around 10pm, destroying and looting valuable Liberation War documents, historic photographs, books and other assets.

It further alleged that the attackers used two bulldozers, an excavator, hammers and other heavy machinery to demolish the building throughout the night. The destruction continued until around 5pm the following day, according to the petition.

The petition also alleged that several of the accused, including Hasnat Abdullah, went live on Facebook and YouTube and incited others to attack the museum.