33 arrested over lawyer Saiful murder in Ctg

Police have arrested 33 people in connection with the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif. Six of them were identified through video footage.

The Chattagram Metropolitan Police (CMP) has also arrested 21 people for vandalism and assaults on police during clashes on Tuesday.

Besides, six members of the Awami League and the outlawed Chhatra League were also detained with homemade improvised explosives (cocktails) in the port city, said Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder.

Saiful Islam Alif, 35, an assistant public prosecutor, was hacked to death amid clashes between law enforcement, enraged protestors, and supporters of Chinmoy, a former leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) and spokesperson for the Sanatan Jagaran Jote.

This brutal murder was happened following the denial of Chinmoy's bail application. He faces charges of sedition.

After the denial of Chinmoy's bail application, his followers clashed with law enforcement, and at one point during the violence, lawyer Saiful Islam was abducted from the court premises and hacked to death.

Later, three funeral prayers for slain Chittagong lawyer Saiful Islam Alif were held in the districts on Wednesday, attended by politicians, lawyers, coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and a large number of people from various walks of life.

The first prayer session took place at around 10:30am on the Chittagong court premises, where Saiful was brutally killed.

Before the prayer, lawyer leaders delivered speeches demanding the arrest and prosecution of those involved in Saiful's killing.

Saiful’s body was later taken to the Jamiatul Falah Mosque grounds in the city, where the second prayer was held at about 11:30am, led by Shahjahan Chowdhury, the Chittagong metropolitan ameer of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

Notable attendees included Land Adviser AF Hassan Ariff, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement coordinator Hasnat Abdullah, July Shaheed Smrity Foundation General Secretary Sarjis Alam, Chittagong City Corporation Mayor Dr Shahadat Hossain and BNP Vice Chairman Giasuddin Quader Chowdhury.

The final prayer was held after Asr prayers at his family home in Lohagara.

Meanwhile, from Tuesday afternoon to till now, security forces continuously conducted operations in several areas of the port city.

In protest against the killing of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, the Chittagong District Lawyers' Association started observing a boycott of courts on Wednesday morning.

The association has also taken five additional measures, including the organization of a doa mahfil (prayer gathering), as outlined in a circular issued on Wednesday by its president, Mohammad Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, and general secretary, Ashraf Hossain Chowdhury Razzaque.

Abul Kalam Azad, nazir at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Chittagong, said court proceedings are not taking place as the association's members are absent.

The court boycott program on Wednesday disrupted proceedings in all courts of Chittagong.

Saiful Islam Alif was a resident of the Chunati area in Lohagara upazila. He became a member of the district lawyers' association in 2018 and later registered as a lawyer at the High Court.