Chittagong, January 2: A court in Chittagong has rejected the bail application of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesperson of Bangladesh's Combined Sanatan Jagaran Front and the head of Pundarik Dham, who was arrested in a sedition case.

The decision was made by Chittagong Metropolitan District Judge Mohammad Saiful Islam this Thursday morning. Following the court's ruling, Chinmoy Krishna's lawyer, Apurbo Bhattacharya, announced plans to appeal to a higher court.

According to court sources, on November 26, Chinmoy Krishna's bail was denied by a magistrate court, and he subsequently filed a bail application in the Chittagong Metropolitan District Court on the same day. The hearing took place on December 3, but no lawyer appeared on Chinmoy's behalf at that time, and the prosecution requested additional time. Consequently, the court scheduled a hearing for January 2, 2025.

On December 11 and 12, a lawyer named Rabindra Ghosh from Dhaka visited to request an expedited hearing of Chinmoy Krishna's bail plea, but the court rejected the request as it did not follow proper legal procedures and maintained the original hearing date.

Chinmoy Krishna was arrested on November 25 at Shahjalal Airport in Dhaka by members of the Bangladesh Police's specialized Detective Branch (DB) while he was en route to Chittagong. He was later charged in a sedition case filed at Kotwali Police Station and presented in the court of Metropolitan Sixth Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam the following day. The court denied him bail and ordered his remand in jail.

Following the arrest, protests erupted among ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) followers, leading to violent clashes with law enforcement. Protesters also engaged in vandalism, attacking mosques, shops, and various establishments in the area. During the chaos, several motorcycles were damaged.

Tragically, in the course of the unrest, Advocate Saiful Islam was killed by a group of ISKCON supporters near the main entrance of the court, at the corner of Rangma Convention Hall. In response, a murder case was filed by the victim’s father, Jamal Uddin, at Kotwali Police Station on the night of November 29, naming 31 individuals. Several other cases related to the incident have also been filed.

The situation has continued to generate tension, with ongoing legal proceedings and potential for further unrest as the case develops.