Elderly woman arrested for son’s FB status freed on bail after 8 days 

Anisa Siddika, who was arrested for conspiring to commit sabotage, following her son’s Facebook status over Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s death, has been released on bail after spending eight days in Khulna jail. 

Khulna Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court Judge SM Ashiqur Rahman granted the bail petition on Monday. Anisa Siddika, 60, was denied bail twice earlier. 

Later in the evening, Anisa Siddika was released from Khulna District Jail, said Jailer Enamul Haque. 

Earlier on 20 August, Khalishpur police arrested four people, including Anisa Siddika, on charges of sabotage. The other three are Rakibul Islam, Tamim Iqbal and Morshed Mamun. 

According to the police, the house of Siddiq Helal was raided on Haji Faiz Uddin Road in Ward No. 14 of the city on that day. During the operation, books related to religious extremism, newspapers, magazines, three laptops, passports, four mobile phones and other items were seized from the spot. Three people, including Anisa, were arrested. 

Later, SI Golam Mostafa of Khalishpur Police Station filed a case against six people under the Special Powers Act. Later, another person was arrested from Khanjahan Ali police station area. 

However, Tanzilur Rahman, son of Anisa Siddiqa, a PhD student at the University of Michigan in the US, alleged that her mother was arrested due to a Facebook status posted by him. 

Monirul Islam, lawyer of the accused, said the judge of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court fixed 31 August as the date for the bail hearing of Anisa Siddika as the documents did not come from the lower court on Sunday. However, the documents came to the court on Monday. 

The matter was then brought to the notice of the judge and a bail application was filed again. The judge granted bail considering Siddika's age and physical ability, lawyer Monirul said.