Prof Abul Barkat denied bail in murder case linked to July Uprising

A Dhaka court today denied bail to economist Prof Abul Barkat in a murder case linked to the July Uprising.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin passed the order following a bail petition, said Additional Public Prosecutor Shamsuddoha Sumon.

Yesterday, 72-year-old Barkat was shown arrested in the case by another Dhaka court as a suspect, preventing his release from jail custody after the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) filed an application in this regard.

Prof Barkat will not be released from jail until he secures bail in the case filed over the killing of 45-year-old trader Abdul Wadud, said defence lawyer Mohammad Shaheenoor Islam.

According to the case documents, Abdul was killed in Dhaka's New Market area on July 19, 2024, during the quota reform protests.

On August 21, 2024, Abdur Rahman, the victims's brother-in-law, filed a murder case with New Market Police Station against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 129 others.

Barkat, former president of the Bangladesh Economic Association and Dhaka University faculty member, has been in jail since July 10 last year after his arrest by the Detective Branch in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission over alleged embezzlement of Tk 297 crore through AnonTex Group. He was sent to jail the next day. The High Court granted him bail on May 11 this year, later upheld by the Appellate Division on May 21.