Ehsanul Haque Jasim :Police arrested ruling Awami League MP [Gaibandha-1] Manjurul Islam Liton, accused in the case of shooting a minor boy Sahadat Hossain Sourav from his licensed pistol, raiding a house in the city’s Uttara on Wednesday evening.”A special squad of Detective Branch of police arrested him from the house of a relative at Uttara at about 10:00pm. He will be produced before Gaibandha court today (Thursday),” said Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Muntasirul Alam. The police officer, however, refused divulged the details of the police operation instantly. Home Minister Aasduzzaman Khan Kamal said that action would be taken against MP Liton as per law. Earlier in morning, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed the High Court’s order directing Awami League MP Manjurul Islam Liton to surrender to a trial court on or before October 18 in cases filed for shooting a minor boy and vandalism.Chamber Judge Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order clearing the way for law enforcers to arrest the MP from Gaibandha-1 constituency. “Now, there is no legal bar to arrest MP Liton,” said Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.On the other hand, Liton’s lawyer Barrister Moksedul Islam said that his client would surrender to a lower court very soon.Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that the government would take initiative following court’s order. “Nobody is above the law. Our government will strictly abide by the court’s order in dealing with Liton’s case,” he told reporters at the Secretariat soon after the court order. On Monday, the High Court rejected the bail petition of MP Liton and directed him to surrender to the lower court at Gaibandha on or before October 18. On Tuesday, the government filed a petition with the SC seeking stay on the HC order.On October 2, Shahadat Hossain Sourav, a class IV student of Gopalcharan Govt Primary School at Sundarganj upazila, was shot in his legs by MP Liton for “no reason”. Sourav is now undergoing treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.The victim’s father Saju Mia filed a case with Sundarganj Police Station against the MP on October 3 for attempting to kill his minor son. Liton went into hiding when the case was filed. On October 8, another case was filed against Liton on charge of looting and vandalising a house soon after the shooting. Law enforcers have repeatedly been claiming that they could not trace MP Liton. But, he appeared in the High Court at the time of hearing on his petition on Monday and walked off after the HC order. Meanwhile, Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Eunus Ali Akond sent a legal notice to the government asking to arrest Liton within 24 hours. Liton breached his oath and acted as unconstitutional mean by shooting 10-year old Sourav, Eunus mentioned in the notice.A writ petition will be filed with the HC for appropriate action against Liton if he is not arrested within 24 hours, the notice said.The home secretary, inspector general of police, director general of Rapid Action Battalion, superintendent of police of Gaibandha, chief judicial magistrate of Gaibandha and Speaker of the Parliament have been made respondents to the legal notice.
