Former Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Ghulam Azam need not be in hospital, says a medical board of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital yesterday.
The BSMMU authorities have already sent the board's recommendation to Dhaka Central Jail authorities and formally asked them to decide on taking Ghulam Azam into their custody.
Cardiology specialist Sajal Krishna Banerjee, a member of the medical board formed for Ghulam Azam's treatment at BSMMU, told The Daily Star that around 2:00pm they handed their final report over to BSMMU Director Brig Gen Abdul Majid Bhuiyan. "In the final report, the medial board was of the opinion that there is no need to keep Ghulam Azam at the prison cell of BSMMU any longer," he said.
Talking to The Daily Star, Brig Gen Majid, who is from the medical corps of Bangladesh Army, said around 4:00pm they sent a letter to the inspector general of prisons (IG-prisons) urging him to decide on taking Ghulam Azam back to jail.
Responding to a query, Brig Gen Majid said the medical board discovered a small stone in Ghulam Azam's gallbladder. The BSMMU director, however, said they already consulted specialists who said the stone is not that harmful and there is very little scope to treat a patient who is 89 years old.
IG-Prisons Brig Gen Ashraful Islam Khan said he was yet to receive the letter sent by the BSMMU authorities. "We will decide after receiving the letter," he said while talking to The Daily Star.
International Crimes Tribunal sent Ghulam Azam to jail on Wednesday after he had appeared before it in connection with crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. The jail authorities sent him to the BSMMU prison cell later that day. BSMMU formed the three-member medical board to check his health.
Ghulam Azam has been charged with 62 counts of crimes against humanity at the International Crimes Tribunal.