A man named Abdul Kalu, who was arrested for harassing and asking money from Australian travel vlogger Luke Damant, was freed with a Tk200 fine on Monday evening.
He was ordered to be sent to jail for one day, if the money is not paid. However, he was freed from Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court custody after paying the fine.
Police produced him in the CMM court on Monday.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shafi Uddin ordered his release in exchange of the fine after confessing his crime.
Jahidul Islam, in charge of the CMM court's jail, confirmed the matter.
Earlier on Monday, the Bangladesh Tourist Police arrested the man who was seen in a social media video harassing and taking money from the Australian travel vlogger.
On the Facebook post, the Tourist Police posted the photo of Abdul Kalu and wrote: “That man has been arrested. We always welcome our guests and foreign tourists to our beautiful Bangladesh.”
Several videos of Australian YouTuber Luke Damant, who recently came to visit Bangladesh and came to Dhaka, went viral on social media.
In one of these videos, Abul Kalu is seen asking him for financial help on the streets of Dhaka.
Even though Luke requested him to leave several times, he continued to follow him.
Luke Damant, who was very upset with the behaviour of Abdul Kalu, posted the video on Facebook and wrote in the caption: “Avoid this man in Bangladesh.”
When the video went viral, many Bangladeshis apologized for the elderly man's behaviour in his post.
Later, the matter came to the attention of the Bangladesh Tourist Police and they arrested him.
In an interview given to the YouTuber, Abdul Kalu said he works as an interpreter on his own initiative.
He also claimed to have helped many foreigners. However, he apologized for harassing Luke Damant.
Meanwhile, the post of arresting the person was shared by vlogger Luke Damant on his Facebook page. He wrote: “Special thanks to the Bangladesh tourist police for ensuring the safety of all visitors. Since posting this video, I have received 1000's of messages from the people of Bangladesh, telling me how sorry they are about this experience.”
“My time so far in Bangladesh has been incredible, but in every country, there will always be a few bad seeds. These few individuals don't represent the millions of kind-hearted, hospitable and caring Bengalis,” he continued.
Luke Damant also said he is excited to continue exploring all parts of Bangladesh and embracing the amazing culture.
At last, he requested everyone not to hurt or say anything mean to the elderly man by saying that everyone makes mistakes in life.