Police arrest another suspect involving attack on former US envoy Bernicat’s convoy

Police in Dhaka on Wednesday arrested one of the suspects involving the  2018 attack on the convoy of former US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat .

The accused, Mohammad Ishtiaq Mahmud, was arrested from the capital’s Mohammadpur area on Wednesday evening, said Mohammadpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Mahfujul Haque Bhuiyan.

Mohammadpur Awami League’s President Ishtiaq is one of the nine accused allegedly involved in the attack on the convoy of the former US ambassador.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Zaki Al-Farabi accepted the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Detective Branch of DMP against nine people, including a BCL leader, in connection with the 2018 attack on the convoy of Bernicat at Mohammadpur in the capital.

The accused in the case are: Ishtiaq Mahmud, brother-in-law of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar; President of Mohammadpur Thana unit of Chhatra League Naimul Hasan alias Russel; Firoz Mahmud; Mir Amjad Hossain; Saju Islam; Rajibul Islam; Shahidul Alam Khan; Siam; and Oli Ahmed.

In the supplementary chargesheet, Ishtiaq was shown as a fugitive.

After accepting the chargesheet, the magistrate issued an arrest warrant against Ishtiaq.

On September 19, The Detective Branch (DB) submitted a supplementary chargesheet in this regard.

Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar filed the case with Mohammadpur Police Station on August 10, 2018, over the attack.

On January 18, 2021, the investigating officer of the case Inspector Md Abdur Rouf submitted the chargesheet to the court accusing nine people.

The nine accused were formally charged on March 1, 2022, and the trial commenced on March 28 of the previous year.

On December 4, six witnesses testified in the case. During their statements, witnesses Badiul Alam Majumdar, Khushi Begum, and Mahbubul Alam Majumder mentioned the name of Ishtiaq.

Later, on December 27, the court lifted the case from the deposition stage and sent it to the CMM Court in Dhaka to take necessary steps for further investigation.

On January 1, the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury ordered a further investigation into the case.