Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari’s bail rejected again

❐ Chittagong Bureau

The High Court is once again rejecting the bail of Chinmoy Krishna Das Mahaprabhu, spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatani Jagran Jote and president of the International Sri Krishna Consciousness Society (ISKCON), in the lawyer Alif ‘murder’ case in Chittagong.

The court will issue bail orders in the other four cases tomorrow, Monday, May 11. The High Court bench comprising Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher issued the order today, Sunday, May 10.

Earlier, on September 1 last year, the High Court issued a rule on the bail issue of Chinmoy Krishna Das in 5 cases including murder. Later, after the hearing on Thursday, May 7, the court fixed May 10 for the verdict.

He was arrested in those five cases after the High Court granted him bail on April 30 last year in a sedition case for allegedly insulting the national flag.

On October 31, 2024, Firoz Khan, General Secretary of BNP in Chandgaon Mohra Ward, Chittagong, filed a case against 19 people, including Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, at Kotwali Police Station on charges of sedition.

Chinmoy Krishna Das Mahaprabhu was arrested in the said case on November 25 of that year. The next day, on November 26, he was produced before the Chittagong court. The court did not grant him bail and ordered him to be sent to prison.

At that time, the followers of Chinmoy Krishna Das protested in the court building premises demanding his release. But the terrorists of BNP-Jamaat-Shibir and NCP attacked them. At that time, the attackers on the followers and devotees of Chinmoy Krishna Das Mahaprabhu from the court building premises located on the hill chased them down from the hill and chased them beyond the District Animal Hospital compound and into the neighboring Sweeper Colony. The attackers were led by Shibir leader Lawyer Saiful Islam Alif.

When the Sanatan Dharma followers were attacked inside the Sweeper Colony, they also fought back. At one stage, Saiful died in the clash. The communal conflict in Chittagong intensified due to this incident. Thousands of minority Hindu citizens were oppressed by the then government and administration.

Witnesses present at the court premises that day said that the extremists attacked the crowd, chanting ‘Naraye Takbir Allahu Akbar’, who were protesting non-violently demanding the release of Principal Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. At one stage, when the police lobbed teargas shells and lathi-charged, the crowd dispersed, left the court premises and took up position in front of the arena. Many were seriously injured in the brick-throwing and chase-and-retaliation incidents. At that time, lawyer Saiful Islam was also at the scene with the extremists.

As a result, attacks were carried out on Hindu-dominated areas including Laldighi, Terry Bazar, Court Building, Kotwali, Patharghata, Hazari Gali and surrounding areas. Hindu homes and businesses were looted. 37 people were admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Chittagong General Hospital and several private hospitals in the day-long attacks.

Saiful’s murder was capitalized on by numerous fake cases. Five more cases were filed, including attacks on police, obstruction of justice, attacks on lawyers and trial seekers, and cocktail explosions. There are allegations of various forms of oppression, including arrest and prosecution, in connection with these cases.

The other 19 accused in the case filed by the BNP leader are:

ISKCON’s Chittagong Divisional Organizing Secretary and Pundarik Dham Temple Principal Chandan Kumar Dhar Prakash Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari (38), Chittagong Hindu Jagran Mancha Coordinator Ajay Dutt (34), City Promoter ISKCON Temple Principal Leela Raj Das Brahmachari (48), Gopal Das Tipu (38), Dr. Kathak Das (40), Engineer Amit Dhar (38), Roni Das (38), Rajiv Das (32), Krishna Kumar Datta (52), Jiku Chowdhury (40), Newton De Bobby (38), Tushar Chakraborty Rajiv (28), Mithun De (35), Rupan Dhar (35), Rimon Dutt (28), Sukanta Das (28), Biswajit Gupta (42), Rajesh Chowdhury (28) and Hridoy Das (25).

An unknown number of 15 to 20 other people have been charged in the same case.