Court Sends Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury to Jail in Jatrabari Madrasa Student Arif Murder Case

A court has ordered Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, information adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to be sent to jail in a murder case filed over the killing of madrasa student Arif in the Jatrabari area of the capital during the July mass uprising. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haq passed the order on Thursday after the hearing.

Before the hearing, the case's investigating officer, Jatrabari police station sub-inspector Mohammad Amir Hossain, applied to keep the accused in jail without seeking remand. After hearing that application, the court ordered him to be sent to jail.

State lawyer Faruk Hossain Faruki told the court that on 19 July 2024, during clashes on Bou Bazar road in the Kutubkhali area of Jatrabari amid the anti-quota movement, Arif, a first-year Alim student of Lord Hardinge Fazil Madrasa, was shot in the eye and died.

Arif's father Yusuf filed the murder case with Jatrabari police station naming 233 people including Sheikh Hasina. Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury is accused number 53 in the case's first information report.

The prosecution also argued that during the previous government Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury played a role in controlling the media and stood in favour of the ousted prime minister, and on those grounds argued for keeping him in jail.

The defence lawyers, on the other hand, did not seek bail. Considering his seniority and physical illness, they filed two separate applications seeking better treatment in jail and appropriate division facilities for him.

Court sources said Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury was brought to the court premises at 3:10pm on Thursday in a microbus of the Detective Branch. He was kept in the lockup and then produced before the court under tight police guard for the hearing.

Earlier, on Wednesday afternoon, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, chairman of a media organisation, and the same organisation's chief crime reporter Rajib Ghosh were taken into DB custody from the organisation's office in Mohakhali in the capital. Police said they were taken into custody after an unwanted situation arose at the office over the broadcast of a news item.

Later, on Wednesday night, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury was formally shown arrested in the Jatrabari murder case. He also serves as editor and publisher of a leading daily newspaper.

The Detective Branch has confirmed that a decision has been taken to release Rajib Ghosh, the organisation's special correspondent who was taken to the DB office with him, on a bond.