Removal of statue: 4 protesters shown arrested

Four protesters, who were picked up while protesting the removal of the statue of Lady Justice from the Supreme Court premises yesterday, have been shown arrested.

Police filed the case against 140 persons mentioning the name of the four last night on charge of obstructing them from performing their duties, said Abul Hasan, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station.

The four accused are: Liton Nandi, general secretary of Bangladesh Students’ Union (BSU), Morshed Halim, president of its Dhaka College unit, Joy, an activist of BSU and Arif Noor, a central committee member of Udichi.

The statue of Lady Justice was taken down in the late hours of Thursday night, a month after Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam demanded its removal from the Supreme Court premises.

Hours after the removal of the statue, police in the capital yesterday swung into action against demonstrators protesting the removal, which they see as "surrender to radical Islamists".

At least 20 people were injured as police fired tear gas canisters and water cannons to disperse several hundred protesters near the High Court Mazar around noon.

The statue's removal sparked protests also outside the capital, while people turned to social media to express their anger and frustration over it.

Source: thedailystar