A Dhaka court yesterday placed BNP chairperson's adviser Shawkat Mahmud on a second phase of remand, this time for four days, over four arson cases.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shahriar Mahmud Adnan passed the order on the president of a faction of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists against a police prayer seeking 40 days.

Hearing on another 40-day remand prayer over four other cases was not held yesterday due to unavoidable circumstances.

Shawkat's lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukdar submitted four petitions seeking bail and cancellation of the remand prayer, saying Shawkat's name was not included in the cases' first information report.

On Saturday, Shawkat was sent to jail on completion of a three-day remand in a case filed over the death of a private car driver in an arson attack in January. The next day, police showed him arrested in the eight cases lodged with Paltan and Motijheel police stations.

The cases were filed over assault on and preventing police from discharging duties, damaging and torching vehicles, and throwing crude and petrol bombs at buses in Paltan and Motijheel in January and February during the BNP-led 20-party alliance's blockade.

On August 18, law enforcers detained him from Panthapath when he went to a convention centre to attend a press briefing of Adarsha Dhaka Andolan, a pro-BNP professionals' platform.

The Dhaka court also placed Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal President Rajib Ahsan on a three-day remand in three cases filed with Paltan Police Station centring arson.