Bangladesh’s HC rejects detained Hindu monk’s bail petition

Dhaka, May 10 (PTI) Bangladesh’s High Court on Sunday rejected a bail petition of Hindu monk Brahmachari Chinmoy Krishna Das since he is being tried in a lower court in connection with a lawyer’s murder in 2024.
     Das, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on November 25, 2024 for alleged sedition.
     He was jailed after he was denied bail by a court in the southeastern port city of Chattogram, which prompted his followers to protest in Dhaka and other places the next day. The protest turned violent in Chattogram, where the lawyer, a junior government prosecutor Saiful Islam Alif, was killed.
     “The High Court bench rejected our bail petition as recording of witnesses testimony is underway in the trial (lower) court in Chattogram,” Das' lawyer Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya told reporters.
     Bhattacharya said the two-judge bench of Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher, however, set Monday for hearing bail petitions on four other cases against Das.
     Chattogram Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal on January 19 indicted Das, a former ISKCON leader, and 38 others in connection with the death of the lawyer in Chattogram and opened a trial against him.
     Prosecutors in Chhattogram earlier said 39 people were accused of Alif’s murder while 23, including Das, were in custody to stand the trial in person with the remaining 16 absconding.
     Das' lawyer sought the bail saying the monk was languishing in jail for a long time with ailments.
     Earlier on April 30 last year, the High Court granted him bail in the sedition case for allegedly insulting Bangladesh’s national flag but the Supreme Court’s apex Appellate Division subsequently stayed the bail order.
     In 2024, Das' Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jote had organised several rallies after the ouster of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina decrying alleged attacks and discrimination against Hindu communities.
     Hindus make up around eight per cent of the country's around 170 million population, as per 2022 data.
     Das’ arrest had caused an issue in Dhaka-New Delhi ties with India earlier expressing its concern over his detention.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)