SM Mizanur Rahman :At last the ruling Awami League (AL) MP Manjurul Islam Liton on Thursday landed in jail in Gaibandha on charges of shooting a minor boy, damaging houses and looting properties.Liton, a lawmaker from Gaibandha-1 constituency arrested in the city’s Uttara area on Wednesday night was taken in the office of Gaibandha Superintendent of Police on Thursday at about 6.00am.From the office of Superintendent of Police, Manjurul Islam Liton was produced before the Gaibandha court at about 11.50am. The court rejected his bail petitions in the two cases and sent him to jail.Gaibandha Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Moinul Hassan Yousuf passed the order. Liton’s lawyer Sirajul Islam said that they would file an appeal with the Higher Court against the verdict. Meanwhile, police and the supporters of Manjurul Islam Liton locked into sporadic clashes over entering the court premises while taking the lawmaker to court Thursday.A faction of local AL workers loyal to MP Manjurul Islam Liton staged demonstration in front of the Gaibandha Deputy Commissioner office at about 11 am protesting the arrest. They also took out procession on Palashbari Road, demanding immediate release of Liton.They termed the cases filed against the MP as false and motivated demanding immediate withdrawal of the cases. At one stage, the local AL activists became desperate and tried to go on rampage. The agitated supporters locked into an altercation with the law enforcers. At one stage, police swooped on them and started clubbing them indiscriminately. Police also opened several rounds of blank fires and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the agitating AL activists.Being beaten up and chased by the cops, supporters of Liton left the scene. When contacted, Abdus Samad, Deputy Commissioner of Gaibandha said that a group of people tried to create anarchy in front of his office but they were resisted. “The situation is normal now here. Additional police forces have been deployed at some strategic points in the town,” he told The New Nation on Thursday. “The situation is now under control,” Officer-in-Charger of Gaibandha Sadar police station told The New Nation on Thursday.On October 2, Manjurul MP and President of the Sundarganj Upazila Unit AL, allegedly opened fire in the legs of minor boy named Shahadat Hossain Shourav Mia when he was playing near BRAC crossing in Golapcharan area on Sundarganj-Rangpur Road in the district.Shourav Mia’s father Sazu filed an ‘attempt to murder’ case against Liton on October 3 and another case was filed against him on charge of vandalism and looting on October 7 by one Hafizar Rahman, a resident of Shahabaz village under Sundarganj Upazila. Since then, Liton was on the run. After the shooting incident, Manjurul’s family surrendered two of his firearms to the police. Authorities later cancelled licences of those firearms.Liton had not been seen in public after the October 2 shooting incident until he surfaced on Monday at the High Court (HC) for the hearing on his petitions seeking anticipatory bail.The arrest came hours after the Supreme Court (SC) stayed a HC order that directed the ruling party MP to surrender in a lower court by October 18 in a case for shooting the minor boy.The SC passed the order on Wednesday following a petition filed by the state on Tuesday seeking a stay on the HC order.Earlier on October 11, MP Liton filed the petition with the HC seeking anticipatory bail in the case.But the HC rejected his bail petition and asked him to surrender to the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Gaibandha by October 18.Earlier on Wednesday night, a special squad of plainclothes police of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested the AL MP from the house of one of his relatives in the city’s Uttara area in connection with the shooting of a minor boy.Liton was taken to the DMP Detective Branch office after his arrest. Later, he was handed over to the Gainbandha police at about 11pm. The police later took him to Gaibandha Police Super’s office from where he was produced at the local court.Meanwhile, Shahadat Hossain Shourav’s parents Sazu Miah and Selina Begum thanked the government and local people for arresting MP Liton and sending him to jail. Besides, local people and a faction of AL leaders and workers also heaved a sigh of relief. They also distributed sweetmeats among the people when they heard the news.
