The reasons behind the denial of parole for Bagerhat Sadar Upazila Chhatra League president Saddam Hossain have been clarified by the district administration amid widespread media and social media discussion.
On Sunday afternoon, Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner Golam Md Baten said that a parole request arrived at his office on Friday.
After reviewing the matter, he informed the prison authorities. They explained that as Saddam is detained outside the district, under the 2016 Jail Act, parole applications must be submitted to the District Magistrate or the authority of the jail where the inmate is held.
Bagerhat district jail authorities had no power to grant parole.
Police recovered the hanging body of Saddam’s wife, Kaniz Suborna Swarnali, from a house in Sabekdanga village under Karapara union in Bagerhat Sadar upazila on Friday afternoon. The body of their nine-month-old child, Nazim, was found lying beside her.
Police and family members said Saddam’s wife Swarnali killed the infant and then took her own life after becoming mentally distressed.
After the funeral prayer, housewife Swarnali, and her nine-month-old child were buried at the family graveyard in Bagerhat at late hours on Saturday around 12am.
The Media Cell of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Jashore, clarified the matter in an official statement on Sunday, Saddam transferred to Jashore Central Jail from another facility on December 15, 2025.
The administration has categorically stated that no application for his release on parole was ever submitted to the District Magistrate, Jashore, by the jail authorities.
The statement emphasized that since no parole application was filed with the District Magistrate’s office, the question of rejecting such an application does not arise.
Saddam’s maternal uncle, Hemayet Uddin, explained that on 23 January, a written application was submitted to the Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner requesting parole.
The DC forwarded it to the Bagerhat district jail authorities, who clarified that they had no power to grant parole. They advised that the application be submitted to the jail where Saddam is currently imprisoned.
Unable to pursue any other option, the family brought the bodies to Jashore Central Jail, where Saddam was allowed to see them for only three minutes. The family, citing limited time, decided to bring the bodies to the jail gate rather than submit a formal request.
The Media Cell of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner statement explains they arranged the visit at the jail gate on humanitarian grounds after consulting senior officials.
Social media posts claiming written requests or photographs of the deceased inside the jail do not reflect the official record.
Saddam was arrested in Gopalganj on 5 April last year, following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August, and is currently in custody at Jashore Central Jail facing multiple cases.
