bail
HC grants bail to former DIG Mizan
The High Court (HC) has granted two-month bail to suspended Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mizanur Rahman in a bribery case.
A single bench of Justice Mostafizur Rahman passed the order after hearing a bail petition on Wednesday.
He, however, will not be able to walk out of jail as he is yet to secure bail in another case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for amassing illegal wealth, said Mizanur’s lawyer Mahbub Shafique.
Also read: Money laundering: HC to hear ACC’s appeal against ex-DIG Mizan’s acquittal
Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan stood for ACC.
Earlier on April 4, Mizanur appealed to the High Court against the verdict of a judicial court.
The HC accepted his petition on April 6 for a hearing.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said they will appeal to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the bail order of Mizanur.
On February 23, Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 Sheikh Nazmul Alam sentenced Mizanur Rahman and suspended ACC director Khandaker Enamul Basir to three and eight years in jail, respectively in the case.
The corruption case dates back to June 24, 2019, when ACC director Manjur Morshed lodged a complaint against the disgraced DIG, his wife Sohelia Anar Ratna, nephew sub-inspector Mahmudul Hasan and younger brother Mahbubur Rahman.
According to the case statement, Mizan accumulated wealth worth Tk 3.28 crore beyond his known sources of income. On the other hand, he had declared wealth worth Tk 3.7 crore in his tax statement.
Then director of ACC, Basir, was made the investigating officer in the case.
During the probe, Mizan had accused Basir of demanding Tk 40 lakh as bribe for setting the case, prompting the Commission to appoint director Monjur Morshed as the investigating officer in the case.
Also read: Bribery case: HC to hear ex-DIG Mizan’s appeal seeking acquittal
At the same time, a three-member probe body was formed, led by ACC director Sheikh Mohammad Fanafillah, to look into the allegations of bribery.
On July 16, 2019, Fanafillah lodged a complaint against both Mizan and Basir. And on April 16, 2020, a Dhaka court indicted the two and directed the official beginning of the trial in the case.
BNP leader Ishraque gets bail
BNP leader Ishraque Hossain secured bail on Tuesday, six days after he was arrested and jailed in an arson attack case.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain passed the order on a bond of Tk 5,000.
Also read: BNP leader Ishraque lands in jail
Ishraque’s lawyer Taherul Islam Tawhid said his client was out of the country on the day of incident of torching a vehicle for which he was arrested.
He said the BNP leader was granted bail as he submitted the proof before the court in this regard.
Tawhid said there is now no legal bar for Ishraque to walk out of jail.
Earlier on April 6, police arrested Ishraque Hossain, while he along with Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal leaders was distributing leaflets highlighting the Awami League government’s failure in controlling the prices of daily essentials and against its alleged corruption.
Police said they arrested Ishraque, son of former Dhaka city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, as an arrest warrant was pending against him in a case filed over setting a car on fire near the Bangladesh Bank building in the capital in 2020.
Ishraque was BNP’s mayoral candidate in the last Dhaka South City Corporation elections.
An FIR was lodged against 42 people in connection with vandalising and torching a vehicle on November 12, 2020. Ishraque was made an accused in the case.
Also read: BNP leader Ishraque Hossain held in Dhaka
On November 18, 2020, the BNP leader secured bail from the High Court in the case.
On January 5, 2021, he surrendered before a lower court after completion of his bail period, granted by the High Court and sought bail again in the case.
On August 18, 2021, the court issued a warrant for the arrest of Ishraque after rejecting his bail petition in the case.
ARTICLE 19 happy over bail of science teacher Hriday Mandal
ARTICLE 19 has called on the authorities to ensure the safety of Hriday Mandal and his family after his release on bail, to reinstate him in service and to withdraw the case against him. The human rights organization focusing on the defence and promotion of freedom of expression expressed relief, as the Munshiganj additional district and sessions judge court today granted bail to detained science teacher Hriday Chandra Mondal of Binodpur Ram Kumar High School under Sadar Upazila in the district in a case filed over “hurting religious sentiment”. Earlier, Hriday was denied bail twice—once on March 23 and again on March 28.
Also read: Hriday Mandal walks out of jailHe was arrested on March 22, 2022, for allegedly insulting religion after he discussed in the classroom the distinction between religion and science.Following the incident, the school authorities suspended him from his job as well. In a statement sent to the media on Sunday, Faruq Faisel, Regional Director for ARTICLE 19 South Asia, said the reason Hriday Mandal had to go to jail is very shocking.
Also read: Hriday Mandal gets bail after 19 days in jail"This incident threatened the concept of academic freedom which included free thought, freedom of expression and dissent in educational institutions. This will create an atmosphere of fear in the minds of all teachers, and science-minded people in the country. At the same time, the reaction of the students to the incident shows that in the education system of the country, tolerance, reasoning, and respect for dissent are not given importance, which is essential for building an inclusive, knowledge-based, tolerant and democratic society. This suggests that the incident should be considered as a wakeup call.’’
Expelled Jubo League leader Samrat gets bail in arms and money laundering cases
Expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat secured bail in an arms case and a money laundering case filed against him at the capital’s Ramna police station on Sunday.
Dhaka Metropolitan Special Tribunal-2 Judge Faysal Atik Bin Kader passed the order in the arms case and Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain passed the order in the money laundering case during hearings.
Samrat was produced in court for hearing on a remand appeal in the money laundering case on Sunday from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.
Also read: Court accepts charges against expelled Jubo League leader Samrat
On March 24, 2021, Mehedi Maksud, inspector of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police and investigation officer in the case appealed for three days in remand to interrogate Samrat in this case.
After that, the remand hearing was deferred several times as court activities were suspended during Covid-19 induced lockdown and Samrat was admitted to hospital for illness.
Advocate Ehsanul Haque Shomaji appeared for the accused while Public Prosecutor Azad Rahman opposed him representing the state during the hearing.
Advocate Ehsanul Haque Shomaji said, “Samrat got bail in two cases but there are two more cases filed against him. He can step out of jail after securing bail in narcotic and graft case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)”
On October 6 in 2019, Rab arrested Samrat and his associate Enamul Haque Arman from Chauddagram in Cumilla.
Also read: Court sets Jan 10 for framing charges against Samrat in graft case
Rab later raided his Kakrail office on that day. Huge quantities of foreign liquor, pistols, and two hides of kangaroo were seized from his office.
He was later sentenced by a mobile court to six months in prison under the Wildlife Conservation Act and was sent to jail the same day.
On October 7, Abdul Khaleque, Deputy Assistant Director of Rab-1 filed two cases against Samrat at Ramna police station under arms and narcotic act. Arman was also made accused in the narcotic case.
On November 4, Shekhar Chandra Mallik, Sub Inspector of Rab-1 submitted a charge sheet against Samrat in the arms case.
On November 12, ACC filed a case against him for acquiring assets worth Tk 2.94 crore beyond his known sources of income.
Lastly, on September 12, 2020, Rashedur Rahman, Sub-Inspector of CID filed a case against him at Ramna police station for laundering Tk 195 crore to Malaysia and Singapore.
Hriday Mandal gets bail after 19 days in jail
A Munshiganj court on Sunday granted bail to school teacher Hriday Mandal after 19 days of his arrest in a case over ‘hurting religious sentiment’.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Motahar Akter Bhuiya passed the order.
Hriday Mandal, a Science teacher of Binodpur Ramkumar High School, was arrested on March 22 after Asad Mia, an electrician of the school, lodged a complaint with Sadar Police on charge of hurting religious sentiment.
However, Babita Haldar, wife of Hriday Mandal, claimed that the false allegation was brought against him to oust him from the school due to previous enmity.
Earlier on March 20, some tenth-grade students of Binodpur Ramkumar High School (science section), recorded a class conversation of Hriday Mandal on science and religion where he reportedly disrespected religions.
On 22 March, some students staged demonstrations outside the school calling for punishment for Hriday.
Later that day, an office assistant (electrician) of the high school filed a case with police against the teacher, who was subsequently arrested.
READ: Amnesty demands immediate release of school teacher Hriday
Earlier, on Saturday, Amnesty International has urged the Bangladeshi authorities to "immediately and unconditionally" release Hriday Chandra Mandal.
“Hriday Chandra Mondal’s detention is a shameful demonstration of the erosion of the human rights situation in Bangladesh. The authorities must take urgent measures to improve the conditions that allow people to express freely and safely, and ensure that teachers can speak freely in class without fear of reprisals,” said Smriti Singh, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, a UK-based global rights group.
Meanwhile, eminent writer Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said he couldn’t believe the arrest of science teacher Hriday in Munshiganj for answering a question raised in the classroom logically.
The former professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) said this in a human chain rally held in front of National Museum around 5 pm on Saturday protesting the arrest of the teacher.
Torturing couple: UP member, 2 others freed on bail in Jashore
A Jashore court on Saturday granted bail to a local UP member and two other people hours after their arrest in a case over unleashing brutal torture on a couple in Churamankathi of Sadar upazila.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Manjurul Islam granted bail to Anisur Rahman, a member of Churamonkathi union parishad in Sadar upazila, and his two associates- Ayub Ali and Abdul Aleem.
A video footage of the torture incident went viral on social media on March 18 prompting the local administration to take steps against the UP member and his associates.
READ: Capsicum cultivation makes Jashore farmers happy
According to the case statement, on March 15, Anisur along with his musclemen beat up a 22-year-old man and his lover, a 20-year-old woman, mercilessly after tying them up with ropes for their alleged illicit act.
They also beat them up with shoes and tried to cut hair of the woman. .
As the video footage spread in social networking site Facebook, local people got furious and staged demonstration demanding arrest of the attackers.
Later, DB police arrested four people including prime accused UP member Anisur in this connection on Saturday and produced them before a court.
In the evening, a Senior Judicial Magistrate court granted bail to the three accused while sent another accused identified as Bhutto to jail, said Tajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station on Sunday.
Local people expressed dissatisfaction when the UP member and his associates secured bail within a short time.
A tense situation has been prevailing in the area over the incident.
HC grants bail to journalist Kanak Sarwar's sister
The High Court (HC) has granted bail to exiled journalist Kanak Sarwar’s sister Nusrat Shahrin in two separate cases.
HC bench of Justice Md Habibul Gani and Justice SM Mozibur Rahman passed the order on Monday.
Earlier on January 25, the HC issued a rule asking why she should not be granted bail in the cases.
She was granted bail at its hearing today.
READ: HC asks govt to pull down 130 illegal brick kilns in CHT
Advocate Jamiul Haque who appeared for the defendant said that HC had issued a rule on January 25 asking why Shahrin would not be granted bail in the Digital Security Act case. After the hearing, HC granted her bail in the case as well as another case under the Narcotics Control Act.
Now, there is no obstacle for Shahrin's release, he said.
READ: Why Babul Akter should not be granted bail: HC
On the night of October 4 last year, Shahrin’s house was raided and she was arrested.
Two cases were filed against her at Uttara West Police Station-- under the Narcotics Control and the Digital Security Act.
Indian Minister's son, accused of killing farmers, granted bail
A higher court in Uttar Pradesh state on Thursday granted bail to the son of a federal Minister, nearly four months after he was held for allegedly running over a group of protesting farmers.
"Ashish Mishra, my client, has been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court," his lawyer told the media.
Ashish, the son of India's junior Home Minister Ajay Mishra, was arrested by the state police in October 2021 in connection with the incident in which eight people were killed in the state's Lakhimpur Kheri district.
The arrest was made after the country's Supreme Court slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for apparently going slow in the case amid a nationwide outrage over the incident.
Also read: India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh goes to polls
"Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish has been arrested after questioning. Ashish was evasive during his questioning," senior police officer Upendra Aggarwal then told the media.
In fact, on October 3 last year, the junior Minister's motorcade ploughed into the farmers protesting farm reforms that they feared could hurt their livelihoods.
While four of them were killed after being run over by a car allegedly driven by Ashish, four others died in the ensuing clashes.
The federal Minister, however, was quick to deny that his son was present on the spot. "There were miscreants who had attacked our workers. The farmers died when a car in my convoy overturned."
The violence in Lakhimpur Kheri was just an aggressive manifestation of the year-long protest by millions of farmers who had been camping on the outskirts of Delhi in protest against three contentious farm laws.
Also read: 4 members of Indian fake currency gang arrested by DMP
The Indian government was finally forced to revoke the three farm laws later that year.
Group of Evaly customers, merchants seek Russell's bail to continue business
Leaders of Evaly Merchant and Customers Coordination Committee (EMCCC) have demanded the immediate release from jail of its disgraced CEO Mohammed Russell and his wife Shamima Nasrin, the company's chairman, together with their transfer to the custody of merchants and consumers with conditions.
Nasir Uddin, coordinator of EMCCC and Shakib Hasan, co-coordinator voiced the demand through a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) on Tuesday.
They believe suchg a step would provide the best chance of restarting the business, and so generating funds to repay the company's debts.
Shakib Hasan said, "We want the Prime Minister’s intervention to release Russell for the sake of millions of merchants and consumers and we would be grateful to you (Prime Minister) for your intervention in granting bail to Russell."
READ: HC moves to confiscate bank accounts of Evaly bosses and relatives
Over 20,000 merchants and consumers EMCCC have favoured Russell's bail on social media, he added.
Their signatures have been submitted to the Prime Minister for this. They demand that Russell be released on parole and given a chance to run his business.
They claimed at the press conference that over 7.4 million customers, 35,000 merchants and 5000 employees were directly associated with the business of Evaly, which started business inspired by the government’s Digital Bangladesh dream.
Evaly played a role in creating thousands of young entrepreneurs across the country through its new idea of business. In the absence of Russell many of them fell into risk of losing their business.
Both customers and merchants have fallen in uncertainty, so continuing the business of Evaly will be helpful to recovery of money paid in advance by customers, rather than keeping Russell in jail, they said.
READ: HC orders to audit Evaly's assets by a reputed firm
In a written statement at the press conference, Shakib Hasan said, "The merchant consumers of Evali want Shamima Nasrin, the chairman of the company, and Russell, the CEO, to give us a chance to continue our business and repay the loans."
HC grants anticipatory bail to Prof Karzon in DSA case
The High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Dhaka University professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon for eight weeks in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.
A division bench of justices Jahangir Hossain Selim and Md Atoar Rahman passed the order while hearing his bail plea during a virtual hearing and also asked the law professor to surrender before the tribunal hearing the case by this period.
Barrister Omar Farooq appeared for the professor in the court while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state.
Also read: Remove Riaz's father-in-law's 'suicide' video from social media: HC
On July 22 last year, Prof Karzon wrote a post on Facebook that stoked a major controversy, forcing him to subsequently remove the same. He had also apologised for "hurting the religious sentiments of people".
However, on August 1, Amit Bhowmik, the general secretary of the central committee of the Bangladesh Hindu Juba Parishad, filed a case against Prof Karzon under the Digital Security Act alleging that his post had hurt the religious sentiments of people.
Also read:Court accept charges against 'Shishu Bokta' Rafiqul in DSA case