DHAKA: A court in Dhaka has granted bail to BNP leader Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan in a case involving an alleged plot to abduct and murder Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in the United States in 2015. The bail was granted by Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mahbubul Haque after Mizanur surrendered and requested bail with the condition of filing an appeal. According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the legal proceedings date back to August 17, 2023, when the Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur's court convicted and sentenced five individuals, including Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, to seven years in prison. The convicted group includes veteran journalist Shafik Rehman, Daily Amar Desh Editor Mahmudur Rahman, and Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, who is an expatriate businessman based in the US. Other convicts are Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas) Vice-President Mohammad Ullah Mamun and his son Rizvi Ahmed Caesar. The Ministry of Home Affairs had previously stayed Mizanur's sentence for a year on September 22. The case originated on August 3, 2015, when police filed the charges at Paltan Police Station, and a charge sheet was submitted on February 19, 2018, against the five accused. During the course of the trial, a total of 12 witnesses, including Sajeeb Wazed Joy himself, provided testimony on various hearing dates.
