Awalami League Leader Attends Father’s Funeral in Handcuffs

Mohammad Shahadat Nabi, a member of the Awami League’s central relief and rehabilitation sub-committee, attended his father’s funeral prayers in Chandanaish, Chattogram, while wearing handcuffs after securing short-term release on parole from prison.

The funeral service was held on Monday afternoon, 17 August, at a local mosque within Chandanaish Municipality. Escorted by a police contingent throughout the ceremony, the politician was re-custodied immediately following the burial and transported back to prison.

Shahadat Nabi, who also served as an executive member of the Chandanaish Upazila unit of the Awami League, is currently detained at Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur. According to police authorities, he faces three separate criminal cases filed with Dhanmondi Police Station in Dhaka. He was arrested on 12 August last year from the Paltan area of the capital and has remained in judicial custody since.

Family members confirmed that Shahadat Nabi’s father, Nurunnabi Saudagar, aged 88, passed away around 5:20 am on Sunday at a hospital in Chandanaish. He had been suffering from various age-related health complications for a prolonged period.

Upon receiving news of his father’s demise, Shahadat Nabi submitted a formal petition for temporary release on parole to the Senior Jail Superintendent of Kashimpur Central Jail. Following a review of the application, the District Magistrate of Gazipur granted him an 11-and-a-half-hour parole window, spanning from 4:00 am to 3:30 pm on Monday, to allow him to perform his final filial duties.

His uncle, Nurul Alam, explained that a police escort brought Shahadat Nabi from Gazipur to his ancestral home in Chandanaish at approximately 1:30 pm on Monday. By 2:00 pm, he took part in the funeral prayers whilst bound in handcuffs. Following the completion of the religious rites, Nurunnabi Saudagar was laid to rest at the family graveyard.

Police Inspector (Investigation) Liton Miah of Chandanaish Police Station confirmed the sequence of events, noting that the temporary release was executed strictly in accordance with the magistrate’s executive order. He verified that Shahadat Nabi remains implicated in three active cases in Dhanmondi. Immediately after the burial concluded at around 3:20 pm, law enforcement personnel escorted the detainee back into custody for his return journey to Kashimpur Central Jail.