Staff Correspondent
Immigration officials at Zia International Airport (ZIA) yesterday prevented Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and former BNP state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar from leaving the country.
The Jamaat leader was supposed to fly to Saudi Arabia onboard a Qatar Airways flight at 8:30am while the former state minister was supposed to leave for Singapore at 1:40pm on a Thai Airways flight.
Sources said they were prevented from leaving the country on orders of the government. According to the sources, there is a list of over 60 people who are not allowed to leave the country.
Mojahid and Babar are accused in several cases and Babar has already been convicted in several of them.
Sources said Babar, along with one of his sisters and nephews, reached ZIA around 12:30pm. But immigration officials informed him of the prohibition on his departure. They left ZIA around 2:30pm for their home.
Talking to The Daily Star, Babar said, “Despite the High Court clearance the immigration officials did not let me leave.”
“I need to go to Singapore for medical treatment and I had shown them the copy of the High Court order and the medical board’s recommendations. But they did not bother,” Babar said, adding, “As I was not allowed to leave, my sister and nephew also returned home with me.”
Replying to a question, he said he would talk to his lawyers about the immigration officials’ “ignoring” the High Court order.
Babar’s lawyer Ahsanul Karim in a press release said it was not expected of a democratic government to prevent Babar from leaving the country.
The HC cleared Babar’s going abroad on February 8. He is now on bail till March 4.
According to sources, Mojahid had booked a trip on Qatar Airways. But when his personal officials contacted immigration authorities, the immigration officials told them that Mojahid is barred from leaving the country.
Mojahid later went to the Jamaat office instead of the airport, sources said.
His personal assistant Shahidul Islam denied that he had attempted to leave the country. Mojahid’s personal secretary Nasiruddin Biswas said he was not aware of the matter.
On February 16, immigration officials prevented former minister air vice-marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain Choudhury and former BNP lawmaker Mosaddak Ali Falu, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, from leaving the country.
Sources said Falu with his wife, daughter and personal assistant was supposed to leave for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Altaf for Bangkok.
Former BNP lawmaker Syed Iskandar, brother of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, was also prevented from leaving the country last month.
Courtesy of www.thedailystar.net
