Judge’s court denies bail to Chinmoy Das in sedition case

Chittagong Bureau    |    ০২:০৭ পিএম, ২০২৫-০১-০২

A Chattogram judge’s court has denied bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesman for the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, in a sedition case.

The court of Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Saiful Islam gave the order on Thursday based on a bail petition filed by his lawyers in December.

“The hearing was held,” said Md Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury, assistant public prosecutor at the court. “The court denied the bail petition after the hearing concluded.”

Chinmoy was not brought to court for the hearing. He appeared virtually at the hearing.

“At the hearing, the state objected to the bail, saying that it was a sedition case and the highest punishment was life in prison,” said Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, president of the Chattogram District Bar Association. “If anyone is aggrieved, they can take the matter to the High Court.”

“The court has denied the bail petition,” said Chinmoy’s lawyer Apurbo Bhattacharya. “We will take the matter to a higher court.”

Chinmoy, head of the ISKCON-run Pundarik Dham Temple in Chattogram, had been speaking out against attacks on minorities across the country since Aug 5, calling for eight specific demands.

Following a public rally at Chattogram’s Laldighi Maidan on Oct 25, a sedition case was filed on Oct 30 against Chinmoy and 18 others at Kotwali Police Station.

Chinmoy was arrested at Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport on Nov 25 in connection with the sedition case.

The news of his arrest sparked protests across several districts, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla, Khulna, Dinajpur, and Cox’s Bazar, which continued late into the night of Nov 25.

Chinmoy was transported from Dhaka to Chattogram that evening.

On Nov 26, Chattogram's 6th Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam rejected Chinmoy's bail application in the sedition case and sent him to jail.

The decision angered members of the Hindu community, who staged a protest around the prison van for Chinmoy outside the court.

The protest lasted for around two and a half hours before police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd before taking Chinmoy, spokesman of Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, into custody.

During the protest, several motorcycles and vehicles on Court Road were damaged, as glass shards littered the second floor of the Court Mosque Complex, where lawyers' chambers are located.

After about two and a half hours, police used sound grenades to disperse the protesters and took Chinmoy into custody.

During the protest, several motorcycles and vehicles parked on the court road were damaged. A scuffle also broke out between lawyers and protesters. In the ensuing chaos, lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed on the Rangam Convention Hall road.

After Chinmoy was denied bail, his lawyers immediately filed a revision petition, seeking another hearing. However, no hearing took place that day.

On Dec 3, another bail hearing was held, but when no lawyer stood to represent Chinmoy, the hearing was deferred to Jan 2.

Ahead of the hearing the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote alleged that cases were filed against 70 lawyers to prevent them from representing Chinmoy in court. They also claimed that some lawyers’ chambers had been attacked.

On Dec 12, a court ordered the registration of the bail plea for Chinmoy.