Abdus Salam Pintu, vice chairman of the Central Executive Committee of BNP and former deputy minister of education, who was sentenced to death in the August 21 grenade attack case, has been released from jail after 17 years.
On Tuesday morning, he was freed from Kashimpur Central Jail Part-2. The confirmation came from the Senior Jail Superintendent of Kashimpur Central Jail-2, Al Mamun.
He said that when the bail documents arrived at the prison on Monday, after verification and legal procedures, he was released on Tuesday at 11am. His family members were present during the release."
News of the BNP leader's release led to a gathering of hundreds of leaders and activists at the prison gate from the morning. Later, he left through the main gate of the prison with his family members. During this time, he waved to the hundreds of leaders and activists, sending greetings.
According to prison sources, in 2004, a grenade attack at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital killed 24 people.
At least 400 others were injured in the incident. In the case filed over this event, after the arguments of both sides, the judicial court sentenced 19 people, including former state minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, to death on October 10, 2018.
Additionally, 19 others, including BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, on December 1, all the accused who received the death sentence and life imprisonment in the August 21 grenade attack case under the Murder and Explosive Substances Act were acquitted by the court. The court also observed that the ruling by the judicial court was illegal. This verdict was declared by the bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain.
Abdus Salam Pintu was elected Member of Parliament (MP) from Tangail-2 (Gopalpur-Bhuyapur) in the 1991 and 2001 national elections. In 2001, he was appointed as a deputy minister. In January 2008, he was arrested in the August 21 grenade attack case. Since his arrest, he had been detained in prison.
