Life term convict gets bail after 23 yrs 

The Appellate Division has granted bail to Abdul Manik who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1997 murder case in Patuakhali.

The court asked the concerned authorities to take immediate steps to release him.

The Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain issued the order Thursday, after hearing Manik's bail plea.

Lawyer Ariful Islam moved for the convict and Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Debnath represented the state.

Ariful Islam later told journalists that a man was killed in a robbery on the waterways in Patuakhali on 18 October 1997. A man named Abul Kashem filed a case and Manik was arrested in the case. He has been behind bars since then.

Now the man is 57 years old.

The lawyer said a lower court sentenced Manik to life imprisonment after the case went to trial in 2006. Appealed, in 2010, the High Court also upheld the lower court judgement.

Manik then appealed to the Appellate Division against the High Court verdict.

In the meantime, he applied for bail while the appeal was pending. On Thursday, the Appellate Division finally granted him bail after 23 years of imprisonment.