Bangladesh's former minister Lutfozzaman Babar, one of the prime accused in the case of smuggling arms to fuel insurgency in India's northeast, was released from Dhaka's Central Jail on Thursday in yet another controversial move by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government that analysts believe will further embolden radical elements the crisis-ridden country.
Babar, who served as a Minister of State for Home in the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami alliance government led by Khaleda Zia in 2004, was arrested in May 2007 for his involvement in cases of grenade attack on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and attempted smuggling of 10-truckloads of arms and ammunition via Chittagong to banned terrorist outfit ULFA working to secede Assam from India.
Under the Arms Act and the Special Powers Act, he was served with death as well as different kinds of sentences before the process of acquittal of Yunus-led government from various cases start when the government of Hasina falls in last August.
Last month, Babar and six others were acquitted by the High Court in the Special Powers Act case while ULFA chief Paresh Baruah's sentence was reduced from death to lifetime imprisonment.
Severely criticizing the move, many Bangladeshis described it as "yet another disgracing act" by the "illegitimate government and its puppet judiciary" in a country "where politicization of justice and lawlessness has become the norm." They declared that the judiciary in Bangladesh had been reduced to "just a tool" to protect BNP.
"The High Court's acquittal of Lutfozzaman Babar and others in the 10-truck arms haul case brazenly disregards overwhelming evidence of their involvement in one of South Asia's largest arms hauls. The weapons were meant for insurgent groups like ULFA and NSCN-IM, posing a grave threat to national and regional security. It (ruling) reinforces fears that the security and stability of the South Asian region is now at its most vulnerable in decades," Hussain Saddam, President of Bangladesh Students' League, posted on X.
Earlier this week, he was acquitted in the '10-truck arms haul case', clearing all legal hurdles and paving way for his release after 17 years on Thursday.
As Bangladesh slides into the abyss, Yunus's government has been accused of giving a free hand to the Islamist forces in the country.
Several reports came forth last week saying that the caretaker government had initiated the procedure for acquitting Syed Zia-ul Haque, an sacked Major of the Bangladesh Army, who has connections with Al Qaeda and has been desperately needed by the United States.
In December 2021, the US Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, through its Rewards for Justice (RFJ) office, offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Haque, aka Major Zia, and Akram Hussain, both of whom, along with four other individuals, were implicated in a February 2015 terrorist attack in Dhaka that resulted in the killing of US citizen Avijit Roy and seriously injuring his wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed.
Read also| Trump Takes Credit for Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Citing 'Historic Victory'
Read also| Israel and Hamas Agree to Ceasefire and Hostage Deal, Confirms Biden