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As the bench and bars were rocked by stormy protests by judges and lawyers on the second day Tuesday protesting the murder of two judges in Jhalakathi by a JMB member, report agencies.
The government has provided gunmen to the Supreme Court (SC) judges under the new security arrangement. The judicial officers posted in different departments of the SC will be provided with police escorts on way to their office and residences, said sources.
Some 77 gunmen were provided to five judges of the Appellate Division and 71 judges of the High Court Division and the Supreme Court Registrar.
Sources said the Home Ministry Monday decided to provide gunmen to the judges of the higher judiciary.
Chief Justice Syed JR Mudassir Husain gets state security.
Earlier, the government provided gunmen to district judges following the August 17 and October 3 bomb attacks.
The authorities stepped up security at the SC and the Judges courts in district headquarters following Monday's brutal killing of two senior assistant judges Sohel Ahmed and Jagannath Pandey in a bomb attack in Jhalakathi on their way to the court.
A delegation of Bangladesh Judicial Service Association, headed by Dhaka District and Sessions judge Rafiqul Islam, met with the Chief Justice at his office on the day and expressed their deep concern over the repeated threats and attacks on subordinate judges at the district headquarters.
The delegation appealed to the Chief Justice to take necessary action ensuring safety and security to the judges and secured atmosphere in courts so that judges can perform their onerous responsibility without any fear.
The meeting sources said the Chief Justice assured that he would do his best possible to meet their genuine concerns in the wake of prevailing situation.
Meanwhile, agitating lawyers across the country staged protest meetings and processions censuring the outrageous acts of Islamic militants exploding bombs and killing innocent judges and litigant public obstructing the dispensation of justice.
Aggrieved lawyers, wearing black badges and holding black flags, held demonstrations in the forms of rallies, processions and human chains on the court compounds and streets across the country condemning the dastardly killing of Judges.
The lawyers at different bars spontaneously refrained from attending the courts as a mark of protest. They also endorsed the court boycott call given by the Supreme Court Bar Association for tomorrow (Thursday).
UNB correspondents from different districts reported that lawyers demanded that the killers be nabbed and punished to stop such heinous criminal acts against the judiciary. The protestors also demanded adequate compensation to the families of the victim judges.
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