Fact check finds Muslim lawyer killed in Chittagong court violence was not defending Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das
Dhaka: After months of bloody unrest, which saw the ouster of the liberal Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is once again in turmoil following the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in a sedition case.
Violence broke out on Tuesday at the Chittagong Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court after his bail was denied.
A lawyer was killed in the clashes and several others were injured.
Following the incident, a post on social media quickly went viral, claiming that the lawyer who died was a Muslim defending the monk.
One such post read, “Muslim lawyer defending ISKON’s Chinmoy Krishna Das killed in Dhaka.”
Both Republic TV and OpIndia published similar claims but later corrected their stories.
Reuters initially reported that the Muslim lawyer, Alif, was defending Das, but later revised this information.
India Today Fact Check has confirmed that the lawyer who died was not defending Chinmoy Das but was in fact a public prosecutor representing the state.
According to a November 26 report in Prothom Alo, a leading Bangladeshi newspaper, the deceased lawyer, Saiful Islam, also known as Alif, was an assistant public prosecutor.
The 35-year-old lawyer was representing the state.
Other outlets, including the Business Standard and Dhaka Tribune, reported that Alif was a public prosecutor and that the interim government of Bangladesh had ordered severe punishment for those responsible for the violence.
Through investigation, India Today found Saiful Islam Alif’s Facebook profile, where he had shared a video on November 25 explaining the reasons for Chinmoy Krishna Das’s arrest.
So, who was defending Das? A BBC Bangla report identified the lawyer representing Chinmoy Krishna Das as Subhashis Sharma.
India Today said Tanvir Mahtab Abir, a fact-checker from Bangladesh, also shared the waqalatnama (bail application) for Das, which bore the stamp of Subhashis Sharma, a lawyer practicing in the Bangladesh Supreme Court and Chittagong Judges Court.
The press wing of the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government also debunked the rumour, confirming that Subhashis Sharma is the lawyer for the Hindu monk, India Today said.
Based on the findings, it is clear that the Muslim lawyer who died in Chittagong on Tuesday was not defending Chinmoy Krishna Das.
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