A Dhaka court has granted bail to Indian citizen Sakhina Begum, who was detained in the capital’s Bhashantek area for allegedly entering Bangladesh without a passport or visa.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain approved her bail.
Sub-Inspector Subir Kumar Ghosh of the police prosecution department confirmed the information.
He said the court granted her bail under the custody of the residents of the house where she had been staying.
On the day, Sakhina Begum’s lawyer Rahmatullah Siddique confirmed the development, saying she was produced before the court for the bail hearing.
He said, “The case falls under a bailable section. Sakhina Begum did not intentionally come to Bangladesh. She was forcibly sent (push-in).”
After the hearing, the court granted bail under the custody of Klanti Akter, who had sheltered her, along with Akhtar’s mother Mosha Jakia and aunt Moyna Akhtar. “Sakhina Begum will be released from jail tomorrow, Monday,” he said.
It is known that the Sakhina was arrested around 4:30pm on 25 September after Bhashantek police filed a case against her under the Control of Entry Act, 1952 for entering Bangladesh illegally.
She was sent to jail the following day.
According to the case statement, Sakhina was found near Tinshed Tekpara Lane in Bhashantek. She reportedly told locals she was from Assam and spoke some Bengali and Assamese.
Unable to produce a passport or visa, she was handed over to police. She also could not explain how she crossed into Bangladesh or arrived in Bhashantek.
