Desh TV boss Arif Hasan remanded for two days

 
A metropolitan magistrate court in Dhaka on Sunday placed Arif Hasan, the Managing Director of private television channel Desh TV, on a two-day remand in a case filed over attempting to kill a man in the capital's airport area during the Anti-Discriminatory Students' Movement on 19 July 2024.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shaheen Reza passed the order after police Sub Inspector Abu Sayeed, also the investigating officer of the case, applied for a three-day remand in police custody for interrogation to know the whereabouts of the absconding individuals indicted in the above case.

Opposing the remand petition, Arif Hasan's defence lawyer sought bail for his client showing reasons that his client was not present on the spot when the occurrence took place.

The defence lawyer also claimed that Arif Hasan was framed in this litigation only to harass him.

The court, after the hearing, declined the defence petition.

Arif Hasan, also General Secretary of the Association of Television Channel Owners, was detained by the Airport police on Saturday midnight while he was trying to escape from Bangladesh.

Immigration authorities later handed over Arif Hasan to the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

According to the case statement, victim Md Sajib took part in the protest in the airport area at about 5:00pm on July 19, 2024.

When their procession reached Uttara Scholastica School, activists of the unseated ruling party Awami League and its associate organizations attacked the procession with arms that left Sajib and several others injured.

Sajib was rushed to Uttara Adhunik Hospital for treatment, said the case statement.

The victim's father later filed the case with the Airport Police Station against 26 people, including Arif Hasan.

It may be recalled that the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) issued travel ban on Arif Hasan in November 2019 over allegations of amassing a mammoth scale of assets in illegal ways.

 Reports have surfaced that Arif Hasan had very close alliance with ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Investment and Private Sector Adviser Salman F Rahman. Salman F Rahman was arrested a few days after Sheikh Hasina resigned and escaped to India on 5 August 2024.

Arif Hasan was one of the big bandits in the banking sector of Bangladesh. He mishandled huge sums of money from some banks including National Bank and Mercantile Bank. Arif Hasan became a branded money launderer during the overthrown fascist party Awami League ruling period in connivance with corrupt politicians and influential vicious bureaucrats, financial sources have informed.