Rickshaw driver assaulted for memorialising Bangabandhu freed on bail in July Uprising case

A Dhaka court has granted bail to Azizur Rahman, the rickshaw driver assaulted near Dhanmondi Road No. 32 while paying tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his death anniversary, in a case tied to the July Uprising.

Metropolitan Magistrate MA Azharul Islam issued the order after a hearing on Sunday.

Azizur has been accused of attempting to kill Md Ariful Islam, who was shot during a protest march in Dhaka’s Science Lab area on Aug 4 last year.

Azizur’s lawyer Farzana Yeasmin Rakhi confirmed the court’s decision.

He was beaten by a mob on Friday while paying tribute at Dhanmondi Road No. 32 before turning him over to police custody.

Subsequently, police produced him in court, where Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Israt Jennifer Jerin ordered him into jail custody over a case at Dhanmondi Police Station over violence during the July Uprising.

Police said the case, lodged on Apr 2 this year, accused demonstrators of firing bullets and hurling petrol bombs and crude bombs that left Ariful wounded. He recovered after two months of treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Speaking before being handed over to police after Friday’s assault, Azizur said he had no political affiliation and had gone only as a demonstration of his love for Sheikh Mujib.

“I did not come to bring back the Awami League or Sheikh Hasina. I came because I love Bangabandhu, with flowers bought with my halal earnings,” he said.