Published: 07:35 AM, 21 September 2024
Protests as ex-minister MA Mannan sent to jail
Former planning minister and Sunamganj-3 MP MA Mannan has been sent to jail after he was arrested from his village home in Sunamganj.
Meanwhile, students have blocked roads demanding the Awami League politician's release.
Sunamganj Judicial Magistrate Farhan Sadique ordered that he be sent to jail at 10am on Friday, said lawyer Masuk Alam, bdnews24 reports.
Earlier, Mannan was presented to the court in a case over an attack on students during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.
The prosecution petitioned for him to be remanded while the defence sought his bail. The judge then ordered the case to be heard by a speedy trial court.
Students from different educational institutions blocked the Sunamganj-Sylhet highway to stage protests against the arrest of Mannan.
They blocked the Shantiganj point of the highway from 10:30am to 11 am and held a demonstration. They demanded that Mannan be released soon or else threatened to escalate protests.
Police arrested the former MP around 10:30pm on Thursday from his residence in Shantiganj's Hijalbari.
Mannan was arrested in connection with a case filed over an attack on students and civilians during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement in Sunamganj on Aug 4, said AFM Anwar Hossain Khan, a superintendent of police in Sunamganj.
The Aug 4 attack in Sunamganj injured Jahur Ali from Eroakhai village. His brother Hafiz Ahmed filed a case on Sept 2 against Mannan and 98 others.
A former bureaucrat, Mannan was first elected to the ninth parliament in 2008.
A former bureaucrat, Mannan was first elected to the ninth parliament in 2008.
In 2003, after retiring from the civil service, Mannan ran as an Awami League candidate in the 2005 by-election for the Sunamganj-3 seat but lost.
However, he won in both the 2014 and 2018 general elections.
However, he won in both the 2014 and 2018 general elections.
In 2014, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina appointed him as state minister for planning, and four months later, he took on additional responsibilities at the finance ministry.
After the 2018 general election, he was made planning minister.
He won his fourth consecutive term in the Jan 7 general election but was not included in the cabinet. Instead, he was appointed chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the planning ministry.
While he was a minister and state-minister, Mannan played an important role in establishing the Sunamganj University of Science and Technology, Sunamganj Medical College, Textile College and other educational institutions.
Residents claim that Mannan had been staying at his home since the beginning of August, with locals guarding his residence. As a result, no attacks occurred on his house even after Aug 5.
