Prof Anowara sent to jail over attempted murder

Professor SM Anowara Begum, a freedom fighter and retired political science teacher at Jagannath University (JnU), was sent to jail yesterday in an attempted murder case after her bail plea was rejected.

The case was filed over an attack on protesters during the anti-discrimination student movement on July 19 last year.

According to the case, she is 69 years old.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the order after AKM Mahmudul Kabir, sub-inspector of Sutrapur Police Station and investigation officer in the case, produced her before the court and sought her detention until the investigation is complete.

In the forwarding report, the investigation officer said that Anowara is named in the FIR, and preliminary findings suggest her involvement in the incident. He argued that granting her bail could result in her fleeing.

Defence lawyers, however, appealed for bail citing her age and her role in the Liberation War.

"She fought for our independence in 1971. She was not involved in the incident and has been falsely implicated. Bail should be granted on humanitarian grounds," said her lawyer Sohrab Hossain Sohel.

After hearing both sides, the magistrate denied her bail and ordered her transfer to Kashimpur Women's Central Jail in Gazipur.

Prof Anowara was first apprehended by a group of students in front of the JnU campus yesterday afternoon. Then around 7:30pm, she was arrested after the students handed her over to police, said Md Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Sutrapur Police Station.

She has been charged with the attempted murder of Sujon Molla, former general secretary of the university unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, who was shot in the eye while protesting near Star Hotel on July 19 last year.

On February 16 this year, Molla filed a case with a Dhaka court against 192 individuals, including several former government officials, JnU teachers, administrative personnel, and 94 Chhatra League activists.

Following a hearing, the magistrate directed Sutrapur Police Station to register the complaint as a formal case, which was recorded by police on February 25.

Prof Anowara previously served as chairperson of the political science department and dean of the social sciences faculty at JnU.

Many current and former students of the university have meanwhile expressed concerns on social media about the arrest of an elderly individual, who was also a freedom fighter.