Rifat murder
Wife Minni, 23 others accused in chargesheet
Govt seeks stay on Minnis bail
STAFF REPORTER, Dhaka
Police yesterday pressed a chargesheet against 24 people including Ayesha Siddika Minni, wife of Rifat Sharif in a case filed for killing him in broad daylight in Barguna town on June 26, while the government yesterday filed a petition with the Supreme Court (SC) seeking stay on the High Court (HC) order that granted conditional bail to Minni in her husbands murder case. Inspector Humayun Kabir, also investigation officer of the case, submitted the chargesheet to the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Sirajul Islam Gazi.
The main accused of the case Nayan Bond was killed reportedly in a gunfight with police on July 2, and so his was exempted from the chargesheet.
The Charge sheet was supposed to be submitted on August 22. Earlier, on August 22, a Barguna court asked police to submit the chargesheet in Rifat murder case on September 3 after police sought more time to complete the investigation.
In the other development, the government yesterday filed an appeal with the SC seeking stay on the HC order that granted bail to Minni in her husband Rifat Sharif murder case.
The chamber court of the Appellate Division is likely to hold hearing today on the appeal.
Advocate on-record Sufia Khatun filed the appeal with the related branch of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday
afternoon seeking stay on the HC order that granted conditional bail to Minni in Rifat Sharif murder case.
Meanwhile, after putting the signature of the HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman on the full text of its judgment in the case, the HC authority published the judgment in the website.
Although, the releasing the copy of the verdict has cleared the way for the authorities concerned to take necessary steps for coming out Minni from Barguna jail, but the government filed an appeal with the SC seeking stay on the HC order.
On August 29, Minni was granted bail by
the HC on conditions that she will remain in her fathers custody and that she cannot talk to media.
If Minni breaches the conditions, her bail will be cancelled, the court said.
The HC granted the bail on different grounds.
Those include Minni is a woman; her name was not included in the First Information Report; she was kept detained for a long time at the Police Lines (in Barguna) before her arrest; there was no lawyer for her when she was produced before a magistrate following her arrest; the SP gave a statement to the media before she gave her confessional statement; the investigation of the case was at the final stage and there is no scope for influencing the investigation.
On June 26, Rifat Sharif, 22, was hacked to death near the main gate of Barguna Government College. His wife, Minni, appeared to be trying to protect him during the attack. Minnis desperate attempt to save her husband went viral on social media.
The following day, Rifats father, Dulal Sharif, accused 12 people in a case over the murder.
The case took a new turn after Dulal pointed the finger at Minni, his daughter-in-law. She was interrogated at Barguna police superintendents office before being arrested on July 16, as initial evidence pointed to her involvement in the much-publicised murder of Rifat, according to SP Maruf Hossain. The police have so far arrested 16 people over the murder.
Minni moved the HC for bail on August 5, after she was denied bail twice by the Barguna senior judicial magistrates court and the district and sessions judges court.
On July 31, Minni filed a petition with a Barguna court seeking withdrawal of her confessional statement over the murder.
