Mozammel released

Road safety campaigner Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury was freed from jail last night, hours after a Dhaka court rejected a police petition seeking to show him arrested in a case filed under Explosive Substances Act.

He was released from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj at 8:36pm, said Shamsuddin Chowdhury, member of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity's executive committee.

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Strange case of a complainant

Talking to The Daily Star, Mozammel, secretary general of the platform working for passengers' rights, said he was thankful to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the judges for his release.

“I am a victim of vengeance of a vested quarter in the transport sector,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mazharul Islam denied police's petition after Kafrul police Sub-Inspector Kazi Raihanur Rahman, also the investigation officer of the case, produced Mozammel before the court.

The IO also submitted a 10-day remand prayer for Mozammel saying that they needed to interrogate the arrestee over blasting of cocktails in front of the Mirpur office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) on February 4.

In the order, the magistrate said there was no cogent reason for showing Mozammel arrested in the case as the IO submitted the prayer over seven months after the incident took place. 

On Monday, the SI filed the petition with the court to show Mozammel arrested in the case over creating anarchy.

Police had arrested the road safety campaigner at his Sanarpar house in Narayanganj on September 6, two days after an extortion case was filed against him with Mirpur Police Station.

Hours after his arrest, Mozammel was placed on one-day remand for interrogation.

A Dhaka court granted him bail in the extortion case on Tuesday.

Earlier, Mozammel's family members and several leaders of Jatri Kalyan Samity said he was implicated in the “false case” to gag his voice as he has been vocal against anarchy in the transport sector.

They said the Samity often faces wrath of transport owners, workers and even the government, as it speaks against irregularities in the sector and regularly comes up with statistics on road accidents.