Dipu Moni to be released on parole for 12 hours

Awami League leader and former education minister, Dipu Moni, will be released for 12 hours on parole on Thursday to get the last glimpse of her husband, who died on Tuesday night.

Munshiganj District Magistrate Syeda Noor Mahal Ashrafi granted the parole period of 6am-6pm on Thursday, after Dipu Moni’s lawyer, Gazi Faisal Islam, sought a four-day release.

Gazi Faisal alleged that the defence asked the authorities multiple times to allow Dipu Moni to meet her ailing husband, Towfiq Newaz, who had remained critically ill since suffering a stroke in 2019.

Dipu Moni has been finally granted release only after her husband has died.

Former Supreme Court advocate Towfiq Newaz was recently admitted to the Continental Hospital in Gulshan after his long-standing health complications deteriorated. He had been suffering from kidney and liver issues.

Towfiq Newaz breathed his last at the hospital around 10:27pm on Tuesday, said his brother-in-law and Dipu Moni’s elder brother JR Wadud Tipu.

Following his death, the couple’s daughter, Tani Dipabali, and defence lawyer, Gazi Faisal Islam, rushed to the Munshiganj District Jail, seeking Dipu Moni’s release on parole.

Dipu Moni has been held at the jail for around two years in multiple cases involving the Awami League regime’s atrocities during the July-August 2024 uprising.

Towfiq’s corpse will be taken to the family residence in Kalabagan, Dhaka on Thursday morning, when Dipu Moni will get the chance to witness him for the last time.

Afterwards, the body will be taken to the Gulshan Azad Mosque for funeral prayers. The former Supreme Court advocate will be eventually buried at the Banani Graveyard.