Former planning minister MA Mannan granted bail

 
A Sunamganj Court on Wednesday granted bail to former planning minister MA Mannan in a case filed over the attacks on students and people during the recent student-led mass uprising in the district.

Judge Hemayet Uddin of the Sunamganj District and Sessions Court accepted the bail petition by the defence in the afternoon, said the Awami League leader's lawyer Shafiqul Islam.

"We filed the bail plea on Tuesday and the court today (Wednesday) granted his bail given his health condition," he said.

Earlier, the bail hearing created a commotion between the plaintiff's and defendant's lawyers during the session. The incident occurred at 10:30am on Wednesday when the bail hearing began in the court.

On the night of Sept 20, Mannan was arrested from Shantiganj Upazila's Hizalbari area in a case over an attack on students and the public in Sunamganj during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.

He was sent to the Sunamganj Sadar Hospital from Sunamganj Jail on Saturday after he fell sick. He was then transferred from there to Sylhet's Osmani Medical College Hospital. A six-member board was formed to oversee his treatment.

Mannan, a former bureaucrat, won his first parliamentary seat in the 9th National Election in 2008. After retiring from public service in 2003, he had previously lost the 2005 Sunamganj-3 by-election as an Awami League candidate. He won again in the 10th election in 2014 and the 11th in 2018. He was appointed state minister for Planning in 2014, later assuming additional responsibilities under the Ministry of Finance. Following the 11th Parliament Election in 2018, he served as planning minister.

Though re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in January 2024, Mannan was not included in the current cabinet but was appointed chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Planning.

>>Ashikur Rahman, AA