Police have pressed charges against Elias Khan, a Chhatra Dal leader in Chattogram, in an arms case filed by Rab with Akbar Shah Police Station.

Since Elias's arrest on November 26, his family members have been alleging that he was framed by a team of Rab after being picked up by law enforcers in plainclothes from the street near a shop he owned.

Elias, currently behind bars, is a former vice president of Chattogram City Chhatra Dal. Rab said it arrested Elias with a double-barrel pistol and two cartridges from CDA Road-1 of Bishwa Colony.

He used to sit in his shop named "E & I Traders" just in front of Akbarshah Police Station.

Sub-inspector Biswajit Chandra Debnath of Rab-7 filed the case on November 27. Family members, however, alleged that a local Rab informant in connivance with the SI implicated Elias in the false case.

The Daily Star investigated the incident earlier and found some discrepancy between the witnesses' version and the case statement by the Rab. In a report published on December 18 titled "Ctg Chhatra Dal Leader's Arrest: Everything goes against Rab claim", this newspaper highlighted the discrepancies.

However, the charge sheet, submitted by Akbar Shah Police Station SI Mohammed Sayem, failed to find out the source of the firearms or how the JCD leader allegedly collected the firearms. The charge sheet does not even answer whether Elias had any intention to do any criminal activities carrying the firearms.

SI Sayem submitted the charge sheet on December 28 in the prosecution section of the court, said court sources.

Talking to The Daily Star, Sayem said, "I personally investigated the case and submitted the charge sheet mentioning the information which I got from circumstantial evidence and witness accounts."

Elias' lawyer ANM Kamrul Hasnat Chowdhury said, "We didn't know about the submission of charge sheet till Monday."

The Daily Star got a copy of the charge sheet. In the charge sheet the IO mentioned that "During the investigation, it was learned that accused Elias is an ill-mannered person and his character is not good. He was involved in different criminal activities. He also stands accused in different cases filed with Akbar Shah Police Station. Considering all the aspects, Elias Khan is an ill-manner person."

In the last paragraph of the charge sheet, the SI narrates, "I submitted the charge sheet under the arms act as the evidence, obtained from my open and secret investigation, proved the charge brought against Elias. The witnesses will probe the case giving their deposition before the court."

FAMILY FEELS INSECURE

The family members of Elias Khan alleged that after the incident came to the media, the plainclothes men have been roaming around their home.

"We feel like we are always under watch," Elias' wife Hazera Hasan Maya, an apprentice lawyer, told The Daily Star.

"We had arranged a press conference at Chattogram Press Club seeking justice for my husband on December 29, but the press club authorities cancelled it following an order from the higher authorities," she said.