Court rejects Akhtaruzzaman’s bail plea in airport security official assault case

A Dhaka court on Monday rejected the bail petition of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Major (retd) Akhtaruzzaman in a case filed over allegedly creating disorder at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, obstructing government work and physically assaulting an on-duty security official.

Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge-5 Sadekin Habib Bappy passed the order.

Defence lawyers Mohammad Shishir Manir and Abdur Razzaq sought bail, arguing that the incident involved only an exchange of words and did not constitute a criminal offence. Razzaq said Akhtaruzzaman had protested against alleged irregularities and corruption.

State lawyer Omar Faruk Faruqui opposed the petition, arguing that the incident had received widespread media coverage and that granting bail could hamper the investigation.

According to case documents, passengers became agitated on October 1 over delays in receiving their luggage from flight BG-338, which arrived from Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Airport Executive Director Group Captain SM Ragib Samad went to the scene to bring the situation under control. Akhtaruzzaman allegedly verbally abused him, shoved him by the neck and threatened to beat him. He also made derogatory remarks about the aviation minister, according to the case documents.

The case was filed by airport security official Md Shahriar Alam Sajib with Airport Police Station.

Detective Branch (DB) police arrested Akhtaruzzaman from his residence in Dhamal Kot, near Dhaka Cantonment, on the evening of October 2. The following day, a court granted one day of remand for questioning. He was sent to jail on October 4 after the remand ended.

Akhtaruzzaman, who was involved in BNP politics for a long time, joined Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of the 13th parliamentary election in 2026. The BNP had expelled him for the fifth time in 2022.