Assaulted on Aug 15: Rickshaw-puller Azizur gets bail

Rickshaw-puller Azizur Rahman, who was assaulted by a mob while trying to pay tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi 32 on August 15 and later sent to jail, secured bail yesterday in an attempted murder case linked to last year's July uprising.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate MA Azharul Islam granted him bail after his lawyer submitted a petition, said Abul Bashar, sub-inspector and general recording officer.

"There is no legal bar for him to walk out of jail," said Azizur's lawyer Advocate Farzana Yasmin Rakhi.

Azizur was shown arrested in a case filed on April 2 with Dhanmondi Police Station. Sub-inspector Mohammad Touhidur Rahman produced him in court on Saturday.

In the forwarding report, Touhidur appealed to keep him in jail until the investigation was complete, saying the plaintiff alleged he was shot in the back during a student procession in Dhaka's New Market on August 4, 2024. The court then sent him to jail.

However, a day later, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) issued a statement saying Azizur was detained from Dhanmondi 32 on August 15 and later produced before the court "as a suspect" in the case.

"Misleading information was being spread on social and mainstream media regarding his arrest, with some reports wrongly terming it a 'murder case,'" the statement read.

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That rickshaw-puller sent to jail in July uprising case

"In fact, the case in which Azizur Rahman was produced before the court is a regular case under the Penal Code. But many are portraying it as a murder case, which is completely false and deliberate."

The DMP urged all concerned to refrain from spreading confusion.

Meanwhile, the interim government yesterday sought clarification from the officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi Police Station regarding Azizur's arrest.

According to a statement from the Chief Adviser's Press Wing, the DMP has initiated a review to determine whether there were discrepancies in the conduct or statements of the officer concerned.

The authorities also instructed that a report be submitted without delay under Section 173(A) of the recently amended Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to complete the investigation.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) issued a statement expressing concern over Azizur's arrest following a mob beating, and demanded a fair probe and legal action against both the attackers and the police officials concerned.

It said such an incident of mob violence, arrest, and detention was a clear violation of citizens' rights guaranteed by several articles of the constitution. "Expressing grief is an inseparable part of freedom of expression."

The rights body urged the authorities to take appropriate measures so that no citizen is harassed or unjustly arrested in the future.

On August 15, Azizur was assaulted by a mob when he went to Dhanmondi 32 carrying a bouquet to pay tribute to Sheikh Mujib, who was assassinated on that day in 1975 along with most of his family members.

"I am an ordinary person of this country, not linked to any political party. I came here to pay tribute because I love Bangabandhu," he said, according to witnesses.

One person from the crowd snatched the bouquet -- which carried a sticker inscribed with "National Mourning Day, August 15" along with Azizur's details -- and tore it apart.

Some in the mob punched him before police arrived and took him into custody.