BNP-police clash: 'Bangladeshi-origin British citizen' gets bail
A Cumilla court has granted bail to Mohammad Ilius Mukit, who is supposedly a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, in a case filed over a clash with the police during the BNP-Jamaat hartal in the district on 29 October.
Cumilla Senior District and Sessions Judge Md Helaluddin granted his bail on Monday (6 November).
"We had previously applied for interim bail twice, but the court rejected our pleas. Today, the court granted permanent bail," said Mukit's lawyer Mohammad Anwar Hossain.
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Forty-two-year-old Mohammad Ilius Mukit arrived in the country just before the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world, seeking to claim his predecessor's property, his family claimed.
A land-related dispute, however, meant Mukit – who has limited proficiency in Bangla – had to prolong his stay.
On 29 October, Mukit was taken to Cumilla jail by law enforcers on charges of clashing with the police during the BNP-Jamaat hartal in the Chawkbazar area of Cumilla on 29 October.
Mukit was named as the 30th accused along with 300 other unnamed individuals in the case filed by Kotwali Model Police Station's Sub-Inspector Jeebon Krishna Majumder.
Mukit's family asserts that Mukit, a resident of London, is a British citizen by birth.
His father, Abdul Mukit, resides in the Manoharpur area of Adarsh Sadar upazila in Cumilla.
Mukit's brother-in-law, Abdul Gaffer Obayed, said, "Mukit married a Bangladeshi girl and was in the process of preparing documents to take her to London.
"Mukit has no knowledge of Bangladeshi politics. He struggles with Bangla and requires assistance whenever he goes outside," he added.
Former president of Swechasebak Dal, Nizam Uddin Kaiser, who has been named as the 7th accused in the case, said, "Mohammad Ilius Mukit is not affiliated with BNP; we don't know him."
Documents obtained by this newspaper show a copy of a passport that shows Mukit is a British citizen. It also has an entry for when he arrived in the country.
