Three days after the death of his wife and infant son, Chhatra League leader Jewel Hasan Saddam, who is currently at Jashore Central Jail, was granted bail today.
The High Court granted him six months' ad-interim bail in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Bagerhat Police Station on March 6 last year, Saddam’s lawyer Sayed Ahmed Raza told The Daily Star.
The HC also issued a rule asking the state to explain why Saddam should not be granted permanent bail in the case.
The bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan came up with the order and rule following a petition filed by Saddam’s lawyer seeking his bail in the case.
Raza said the court granted bail to his client on humanitarian grounds following the recent deaths of his wife and son.
He added that with this order, Saddam has now secured bail in all pending cases against him.
The lawyer, however, could not specify whether Saddam, currently in Jashore Central Jail, would be released from prison even though he secured bail in six other cases from the HC, as he was shown arrested in other cases soon after securing bail.
Raza said Saddam's name was not in the FIR of the case in which he got HC bail today, adding that he was shown arrested in the case on December 18 last year.
Saddam, president of now-banned student organisation Chhatra League's Bagerhat Sadar Upazila unit, was arrested in Gopalganj following the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, and had been charged in several cases.
Earlier on Saturday night, Saddam was allowed to see his wife and son for the last time under police supervision at the gate of Jashore Central Jail. Family members said they had applied for his release on parole but then had to arrange for the bodies to be taken to the jail gate instead.
Witnesses at the jail gate had described scenes of profound grief during the final farewell. The incident later drew criticism across social media, with many arguing that Saddam should have been granted parole to attend the funeral.
On Friday, police recovered the bodies of Saddam’s wife, Kaniz Suborna Swarnali, 22, and his nine-month-old son Najim Hossain. Swarnali was found hanging, and the child, dead on the floor, at a house in Sabekdanga village of Bagerhat Sadar upazila around noon.
After post-mortem at Bagerhat District Hospital, the bodies were handed over to the family. The mother and child were laid to rest in Sabekdanga early Sunday.
Speaking to reporters, Swarnali’s brother, Shubho, earlier said his sister had married Saddam around five years ago.
“My sister had been mentally distressed since her husband’s imprisonment. She tried in many ways to secure his release… This caused severe mental stress and depression. Out of frustration, she drowned her nine-month-old child in a bucket of water and later took her own life,” he claimed.
Officer-in-Charge of Bagerhat Sadar Police Station Mohammad Masum Khan said a murder case had been filed over the death of the child.
“At this stage, whether the death of Swarnali was a murder or a suicide will be determined after the official autopsy report is received,” he said, adding that further legal steps would depend on the findings.
