Ctg Correspondent

Police have the key accused in a case filed over the killing of Chittagong court lawyer Saiful Islam Alif last month.

Bhairab police apprehended Chandan, 35, at the local railway station during an operation around midnight on Wednesday.

Chandan, hailing from Chittagong, has ties to Bhairab through his in-laws. Police said he had been caught before reaching his in-laws’ residence.

Kazi Md Tarek Aziz, additional deputy commissioner (media) at the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP), said Chandan was being brought to the port city.

Protests erupted on the premises of a Chittagong court on November 26 after it denied bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson for Sanatani Jagaran Jote and a former International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) leader, and sent him to jail following his arrest in a sedition case.

Chinmoy’s followers clashed with police, leading to widespread vandalism in and around the court area.

During the chaos, Assistant Public Prosecutor Saiful Islam Alif was brutally hacked to death.

Police later identified several perpetrators using video footage.

A total of five cases, including one for murder, were filed over the incidents. Police filed three of these cases themselves.

In connection to Saiful’s murder, his father Jamal Uddin lodged a case at Kotwali police station, naming 31 individuals and accusing 10-15 unidentified others. Chandan was listed as the key accused.

Police previously arrested nine others in the case.