Sherpur-3 BNP candidate, 39 others get anticipatory bail

The High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail for six weeks to BNP candidate for Sherpur-3 constituency (Sreebardi and Jhenaigati) Md Mahmudul Haque Rubel and 39 other individuals in a case filed over the killing of a Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader during a clash with BNP men in Jhenaigati.
The HC bench of Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah and Justice Faysal Hasan Arif passed the order following a petition filed by the accused. They appeared before the bench.
The court also directed the accused to surrender before the trial court concerned within six weeks in connection with the case.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal moved the bail plea before the court. He told reporters that his clients were not involved in the clash in which Jamaat leader Rezaul Karim was killed on Wednesday. 

He said the accused had been implicated in the case out of political vindictiveness because of their involvement in BNP politics. Rezaul Karim, 40, secretary of Jamaat's Sreebardi upazila unit in Sherpur, was critically injured in the clash during an event marking the announcement of election manifestos of different parties on Wednesday. He later died en route to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. 
His wife Mosammat Marjia filed a case at Jhenaigati Police Station on Friday in connection with the murder. The case names 234 people and lists a total of 734 accused.