BNP leader Pintu released after 17 years in jail

BNP Vice Chairman and former Deputy Minister for Education Abdus Salam Pintu, who was acquitted in the August 21 grenade attack case, has been released from prison after nearly 17 years.

He was freed from Kashimpur Central Jail Part-2 in Gazipur at 11 am on Tuesday (December 24), confirmed Jail Superintendent Al Mamun.

In the morning, bail documents for Pintu reached the jail. After verification and confirming that there were no other warrants against him, he was released. His family members received him at the prison’s main gate.

On December 1, the High Court had declared the trial and conviction in the August 21 grenade attack case invalid, overturning the death sentence against Pintu and granting appeals from the defendants. 

Pintu, a founding general secretary of the Tangail district BNP, was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Tangail-2 (Gopalpur-Bhuapur) constituency in the 1991, February 15, 1996, and 2001 national elections. He was appointed Deputy Minister for Education in 2001.

He was arrested in January 2008 in connection with the August 21 grenade attack case, for which he was sentenced to death by the trial court.

According to BNP’s media cell, after his release, Pintu plans to visit the grave of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and later proceed to the party’s central office in Naya Paltan.

Jail Superintendent Al Mamun stated, “Since there are no other warrants against him, and we received his bail documents, he was released at 11 a.m. today.”