Gulshan shooting: Police won’t seek remand 

Bangladesh

TBS Report 
16 January, 2023, 10:10 pm
Last modified: 16 January, 2023, 10:15 pm
Plaintiff claims he was forced to file case

Police have decided against seeking remand of any of the accused in the recent shooting incident outside Gloria Jeans Coffees in the capital's Dhaka. 

Law enforcers, however, refused to comment on why they had taken such a decision. 

Meanwhile, Aminur Islam, 40, a private car driver, who was injured in Sunday's shooting, also declined to be a plaintiff in the case.

He had earlier filed an attempted murder case with Gulshan police station against Vice President of Dhaka metropolitan north unit of Swechchhasebak League Abdul Wahid Mintu (46), his associate Md Arif Hossain (24) and Arif's brother-in-law Monir Ahmed (35), Shariful (55) and Humayun (45), said Masudur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Gulshan Zone.

"Of the five accused, Mintu, Arif and Monir have been sent to jail after court proceedings and the rest are absconding," he added. 

He declined to comment on why they had not sought remand for the alleged shooter and his associates.

Contacted, plaintiff of the case Aminur Islam said, "I have family and a child. I'm  the sole bread earner of the family and I was saved by a miracle. Now, the police are trapped in another problem. I have refused to be a plaintiff several times," he added. 

North Unit Swechchhasebak League President Ishak Miah said the organisation would take action after looking into the incident. 

Law enforcers have alleged that Abdul Wahid Mintu had constructed a two-storey building by grabbing government land in Mohakhali and he would also manipulate government tenders to win bids for his company called Orthi Enterprise.

DMP's Gulshan Division Deputy Commissioner Abdul Ahad told TBS that they also primarily learned that the ruling party man fired from his licensed firearms and will seek to scrap his licence after the investigation.

Will investigate validity of gun licence: Police

Police are set to investigate whether the alleged shooter in the Gulshan incident used the gun for any other illegal activities before and whether he had a valid licence for the arm seized on Sunday. 

According to police, Abdul Wahid Mintu obtained the licence from the Dhaka District Administration in 2016, renewing it in 2021. The licence is valid till 2024. 

As per the arms act, every valid licence holder must submit an annual report on whether any bullet was used. 

Licence holders must also register the cause of firing bullets and submit the amount used to the police station concerned.

According to a recent police report, most of the arms licence holders across the country don't submit their bullet usage report/statistics. 

It added that many use the firearms for illegal activities and illegal businesses. The report suggested scrapping around 5,000 licences across the country. 

At least 42 firearms which had valid licences were seized in illegal activities, the report said.

Meanwhile, the home ministry on Sunday formed a committee to look after the Digital Arms Management System (DAMS) upgradation to ensure accountability of licence holders. 

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