Slain Ctg lawyer Saiful's father files murder case against 46

The father of slain lawyer Saiful Islam Alif filed a case against 46 individuals on Friday (29 November), alleging supporters of Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League of inciting the attack that led to his son's death.

Saiful, an assistant public prosecutor at Chattogram Judge Court, was hacked to death during the unrest centring rejection of bail of former Iskcon leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari on 26 November.

Jamal Uddin, the father of Saiful, lodged the case at the port city's Kotwali Police Station on Friday, said Md Abdul Karim, officer-in-charge (OC) of the station.

"The case names 31 individuals and 15-16 others remain unidentified," Karim said.

The case mentions that delays in filing the case occurred as the family was occupied with Saiful's funeral and related rituals in their village.

Police have already arrested nine of the named accused, said Kazi Tarek Aziz, additional deputy commissioner (media) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police.

Mentioning Chandan Das as the key accused in the murder case, Aziz said Chandan was wearing an orange t-shirt and helmet during the killing. 

Police saw him hacking Saiful in video footage obtained from the scene, and efforts are underway to arrest him, he added. 

Meanwhile, Saiful's elder brother Khan-e Alam on Friday night filed another case over the assault and vandalism of lawyers in the Chattogram court premises on 26 November.

This case named 115 individuals and included 400-500 unnamed people as accused.

Earlier, police also filed three separate cases against 76 identified and 1,400 unidentified people on charges of obstructing police and vandalising vehicles.

On 26 November, a Chattogram court denied the bail petition of Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson of Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote and former leader of Iskcon Bangladesh, in a sedition case and sent him to jail.

After the hearing, when Chinmoy boarded a prison van of the police, a mob -- mostly Chinmoy's supporters -- blocked the roads, triggering a clash in the court premises that lasted around 2.5 hours.

In protest against the attack and vandalism, Saiful and a group of lawyers took part in a procession and headed towards Bandil Road. At that time, armed individuals chased them.

Saiful stumbled and fell while others managed to escape. This was when he was beaten up and hacked mercilessly.

The lawyer was rescued from an alley next to Kotwali's Rangam Convention Hall at around 3:30pm and taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where the on-duty doctors declared him dead.