Journalist Azhar Ali Sarker, who was arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Ramna Police Station, died 40 days after being released on bail.
He died on Sunday afternoon while being taken from Shamrita Hospital in Dhaka to Bangladesh Medical University (BMU) after his condition deteriorated, his wife Roksana Parvin confirmed.
“He was undergoing treatment at Shamrita Hospital. When his condition worsened, we left for PG Hospital (now Bangladesh Medical University) at around 1:10pm. He died on the way,” she said.
Family members said Azhar Ali, 57, had been suffering from kidney complications for a long time. He was recently admitted to Shamrita Hospital after falling ill.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) arrested Azhar Ali on 10 October last year. His family alleged that a DB team took him from his residence in Banasree that evening.
The following day, he was shown arrested in a case filed with Ramna Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The case was reportedly filed after the arrest of Bangladeshi-origin US citizen Enayet Karim. After being shown arrested in the case, Azhar Ali was sent to jail.
He remained in custody until his health condition deteriorated. His family later sought bail on medical grounds, and the court granted him bail on 17 August.
Azhar Ali died on Sunday, around one month and 10 days after his release.
He had been involved in journalism for many years.
