Baul singer Abul Sarkar released on bail in ‘religious defamation’ case

Baul singer Abul Sarkar was released on bail from Kashimpur High Security Central Jail, Part-2, in Gazipur today (13 April), in a case filed over allegations of religious defamation.

Halima Khatun, senior jail superintendent of Kashimpur High Security Central Jail-2, confirmed the release, stating that the prison authorities processed his discharge after verifying the bail documents received yesterday (12 April).

“As there were no other pending charges against him, he was released at 11:20am today,” she said.

After his release, Abul arrived at the prison gate by rickshaw and left in a Hiace, accompanied by family members, without speaking to journalists due to illness.

Abul Sarkar is the son of the late Amzad Ali from Char Tilli village in Saturia Upazila of Manikganj district.

The case was filed on 4 November last year, following a Palagaan (folk musical) performance at a traditional fair in Ghior upazila of Manikganj. A video of his remarks during the event went viral on social media, leading to a case being filed by a local resident, Mufti Md Abdullah, for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

He was later detained on the night of 19 November from a musical event in Madaripur by a team of Manikganj District Detective Branch (DB) police.

The following day, he was brought to the DB office in Manikganj and produced before a senior judicial magistrate court, which ordered his detention in jail.

Sarkar later sought bail from the High Court. On 5 April, a High Court bench comprising Justice Md Atowar Rahman and Justice Md Sagir Hossain granted him interim bail for six months.