Setu Bhaban arson: Barrister Andaleeve, businessman David placed on 5-day remand

A Dhaka court has placed Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho, chairman of the Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), and businessman KM Rezaul Hasanat David on a five-day remand in a case filed over vandalising and setting fire to the Setu Bhaban in Dhaka on 18 July.

KM Rezaul Hasanat David, chairman and chief executive officer of Viyellatex Group, one of the largest garment exporters in Bangladesh, is the alleged financier of the offence. 

Andaleeve and David were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka at 2:50pm today (25 July) and the court granted a five-day remand, according to court sources.

Andaleeve, also a former member of parliament, was held around 1:00am today (25 July) from his residence in the capital's Gulshan, according to Harun-Or-Rashid, chief of the Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

"He was arrested based on allegations of inciting violence during the quota reform protests," said Harun-Or-Rashid. 

Faruk Ahmed, David's lawyer, told The Business Standard that David was arrested around 12:30pm today. 

"I have told the court that David has no involvement in any such incident because he was outside the country from 13 July to 23 July. But the police in their remand application claimed that during interrogation, the other accused in the case said David financed and planned the arson attack on Setu Bhaban," Faruk Ahmed said.

"The court has considered that David may have no chance of being involved in this incident as he was abroad. But when granting the remand, the court said since it is a sensational case, the remand was allowed," the lawyer added.

David is the founder of Viyellatex Group, which started as a small family business of knit apparel manufacturing in 1996 and since then has evolved into a conglomerate. The group is known as an end-to-end apparel solution provider, starting from sourcing the cotton and going all the way to providing logistical services to its clients.

The company employs over 300 management staff and over 15,000 workers. It has further diversified towards other ventures such as tea production, agriculture, engineering, power generation and education. According to industry insiders, Viyellatex's garment exports were over $200 million in 2023.

In a reaction to Andaleeve's arrest, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir issued a statement condemning the "inhumane and continuous" arrests of opposition leaders and activists in the wake of the student movement for quota reform in government jobs.

"The reasonable movement by students across the country demanding the elimination of discriminatory quotas in government jobs has led to indiscriminate arrests of BNP and other opposition party members," he said. 

Referring to Andaleeve's arrest, Fakhrul said, "The government and certain members of the law enforcement agencies are falsely accusing BNP and opposition party leaders and activists of playing a role in the movement. If that was the case, why weren't they arrested from the scene of the incidents? This is the question of the people. This proves that neither BNP nor any opposition party members are involved in the movement."

He said the arrests were a strategic attempt to cover up incidents which left many dead during the protests.

"Therefore, the public demands an international investigation into the entire incident and the killings. If not, the people believe that the government should resign immediately, taking full responsibility for the failure."