Police on Tuesday pressed charges implicating 38 accused, including ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, in the sensational murder case of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif.

Assistant Commission (AC-Kotwali Zone) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) and investigation officer of the case Mahfuzur Rahman submitted the chargesheet.

He said three of the 31 accused named in the case were excluded from the chargesheet as their affiliation to the murder was not found.

He, however, said names of 10 more accused were added to the chargesheet as their involvement was found during the investigation, totalling the number of implicated accused to 38.

Assistant Public Prosecutor of the court Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury said a hearing regarding the acceptance of the chargesheet will be held on Wednesday.

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According to the chargesheet, Alif was deliberately killed as part of a conspiracy to create unrest in the country.

Twenty out of the indicted accused have so far been arrested, with Chandan Das, Rajib Bhattacharya, and Ripon Das giving confessional statements under section 164 in court. The remaining 18 are still at large.

On November 26 last, tensions spread on Chattogram court premises when followers of Chinmoy Das intercepted a prison van carrying the ISKCON leader after his bail prayer was rejected by a court in the sedition case.

Lawyer Alif was stabbed to death during a clash between law enforcers and Chinmoy’s supporters over the matter on the court premises.

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On November 29 last, the victim’s father Jamal Uddin filed a case naming 31 accused and 15 to 16 unnamed others with the Kotwali Police Station.

The identified accused are residents of Chandgaon, Mohora and Bundle Sebak Colony of the city.