Plot to kill Joy: BNP leader Mizanur gets bail

A Dhaka court today granted bail to BNP leader and businessman Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan after he surrendered before it in a case filed over a plot to abduct and kill Sajeeb Wazed Joy, for which he was sentenced to seven years in jail last year.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mahbubul Haque passed the order after the accused appeared before the court and sought bail in the case.

On September 22, the home ministry suspended Mizanur's jail term for a year on the condition that he surrender and file an appeal challenging the sentence.

In his absence, Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Asaduzzaman Nur sentenced him seven years' rigorous imprisonment on August 17 last year.

Mahmudur Rahman, former editor of Amar Desh, and senior journalist Shafik Rehman were also sentenced to seven years in the same case. They are currently out on bail.

Two others—Mohammad Ullah Mamun, his son Rizvi Ahmed Caesar—were also handed seven-year jail terms in absentia, along with Tk 5,000 fines or an additional three months in jail for non-payment.

According to the charges, Shafik and Mahmudur masterminded the plot, aided by Mamun, while Rizvi bribed an FBI agent for information on Joy.

The case, filed by the Detective Branch in 2015, accused several BNP leaders of conspiring to abduct and kill Joy, the ICT adviser to ousted prime minister Hasina.