Fakhrul out of jail at last
More than six months after his arrest, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was finally freed on bail from prison yesterday.
He got out of the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) around 7:20pm, Sayrul Kabir Khan, a media wing staff of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, told The Daily Star.
Earlier, Sorbottom Chakma, deputy jailer at the Dhaka Central Jail, went to the medical university with the release order, Sayrul added.
Fakhrul was admitted to United
Hospital in Gulshan with gastric problems later, said a doctor there.
On January 6, law enforcers detained the BNP leader near the Jatiya Press Club. Later, he was shown arrested in seven cases, his lawyer Sagir Hossain Leon had said.
Accompanied by his wife, Rahat Ara, and party men, Fakhrul came out of the BSMMU, where he had been undergoing treatment, in a wheelchair.
Talking to journalists there, he thanked the media for reporting on him frequently. He also talked about his health.
“I am very sick. I lost some 12kg in the last six months. I am suffering from different cardiac ailments,” he said, adding that he would go abroad for treatment.
Fakhrul said his wife had already consulted with some doctors in the US and Singapore.
“I am seeking blessings so that I can serve the people of my country after returning from abroad,” he added.
From the medical university, he went to the United Hospital in an ambulance and visited his ailing mother there. Rahat Ara was also present during the visit, said party insiders.
Later, Fakhrul was admitted to the hospital, Dr Fowaz Shuvo told The Daily Star.
On Monday, the Supreme Court granted a six-week bail to the BNP leader on medical grounds, clearing the way for his release from jail.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha also directed Fakhrul to surrender before a lower court concerned after the given time.
In its order, the apex court said he could get advanced treatment abroad within the six weeks' time as the medical report suggested.
The SC order maintained the June 21 High Court decision granting ad interim bail to him in three cases for vandalism and arson.
On June 28, the SC upheld the HC orders that on June 18 had granted bail to the BNP leader in three other vandalism and arson cases.
On April 16, Fakhrul, who is accused in 89 cases, got bail from the HC in another similar case.
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