Former minister Obaidul Muktadir on 5-day remand

A Dhaka court has placed former housing and public works minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury on a five-day remand in a case filed over BNP activist Makbul Hossain murder case at Paltan police station.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Judge Mehra Mahbub placed the accused on remand on Friday afternoon.

Prior to the ruling, the investigating officer, sub-inspector Nazmul Hasan applied for a 10-day remand for further investigation.

The defence lawyer pleaded to the court to cancel the remand plea and grant their client bail, which the prosecution opposed.

After the hearing, the court approved the five-day remand.

Obaidul Muktadir was arrested by detectives of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in the Mirpur area of the capital on Thursday night.

According to the case details, on December 10, 2022, a one-point demand campaign was announced.

Earlier, on December 7, Detective Branch officers Harunor Rashid, Mehedi Hasan, and Biplob Kumar reportedly raided the BNP’s Naya Paltan office, causing damage and allegedly attacking thousands of protesters.

During this raid, a BNP activist named Mokbul Hossain was shot and killed.

On September 30, 2024, a case was filed by Mahfuzur Rahman, naming Sheikh Hasina and 255 others as defendants.

Obaidul Muktadir is listed as the 35th accused in this case.

Obaidul Muktadir is a former member of parliament from Brahmanbaria-3 constituency. He was elected MP for first time in a by-election in 2011. He was also elected MP in the last 12th national parliamentary election on January 7 last. Then he got the portfolio of Housing and Public Work minister in Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet.