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A Rangpur court on Sunday granted bail to Begum Rokeya University teacher Mahamudul Haque who was arrested in a murder case filed over the death of a grocer during the anti-discrimination student movement last year.
Judge Mosammat Marzia Khatun of Rangpur Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court passed the bail order after a hearing in the afternoon, reports UNB.
Advocate Shamim Al Mamun, counsel for Mahamudul Haque, said, “The plaintiff in the case did not even know that Mahamud had been named as an accused. He doesn’t even recognise him.”
Advocate Mamun said they first sought bail from the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court which heard their statement but deferred the hearing to June 24.
“Then, in our pursuit of justice, we appealed to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court, which granted the bail,” he said.
Prior to the bail hearing, a group of the university students gathered on the court premises, staged demonstrations demanding Mahamudul’s bail and exemption from what they termed a ‘conspiratorial’ case.
Meanwhile, officer-in-charge (OC) of Hajirhat Police Station Abdul Al Mamun Shah, also the investigating officer of the case, was transferred.
Earlier on June 19, police arrested Mahamudul Haque, an assistant professor at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at the Begum Rokeya University, in connection with the case filed over the death of grocer Somes Uddin.
According to the case statement, on August 2, last year, police and Awami League activists threatened Somes at his shop in Radhakrishnapur area under Ward 12 of Rangpur city.
He was injured in an attack by the activists of AL associate bodies. His family took him to Prime Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Ten months after the incident, Somes Uddin’s wife Amena Begum filed a case with Hajirhat Police Station on June 3 accusing 54 people, including ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina and minister Obaidul Quader.
Mahamudul Haque was listed as the 54th accused and described as the Central Assistant Secretary for Information and Research of the Bangabandhu Parishad.
Amena Begum and her son Ashiqur Rahman reportedly admitted that they filed the case under pressure from law enforcers and had no knowledge of who was named as accused.
They said they only gave their signatures on papers.