Tara Mia, who was born with a deformity in his right hand and had been made accused in a case over attacking police personnel before the December 30 polls, secured a six-month anticipatory bail from the High Court yesterday.

The verdict comes following The Daily Star's report yesterday headlined “Hard to believe”. The report came with a picture of Tara Mia.

The HC bench of Justice Md Rais Uddin and Justice Md Jahangir Hossain passed the order after Tara's lawyer informed the court about the report and sought his bail through a petition.

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The HC also asked the 45-year-old man to surrender before the lower court concerned in Sunamganj after his bail term expires.

A beggar hailing from Jamalganj upazila in Sunamganj district, Tara expressed his gratitude and joy upon hearing the news of his bail.

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HARD TO BELIEVE

“I had been living away from my house since the case was filed and police implicated me… I will now visit my family, my kids,” he told The Daily Star at the HC premises.

“I had an operation on my stomach a year ago. Living here [on the road] for the past few days, I had fallen ill. If I had not gotten bail, then I would have suffered a lot.”

Tara demanded steps from the authorities concerned to discharge him from the case and relieve him from his sufferings. 

He arrived in Dhaka a week ago with the help of his brother and co-accused, Shamsu Miah, and appeared before the HC for his hearing in the case yesterday.

He, however, could not afford a lawyer. Afterwards, the lawyer of some of his co-accused, Mohammad Abidul Haque, moved for him.

During the hearing, Abidul brought a copy of the report published in this newspaper to the court and said that a man in his condition could never attack the police, adding Tara was falsely implicated in the case.

“The High Court took the argument into cognisance and granted bail to Tara Mia,” he told The Daily Star after the hearing.

Though Tara said he was not involved in politics, he was made one of the 52 accused in a case filed for attacking policemen with machetes, hockey sticks and iron rods in Sunamganj's Mallikpur Bazar area around 4:40pm on December 28.

According to the case statement, the accused gathered unlawfully in the area and brought out a procession in support of the "sheaf of paddy".

They blocked the road and attacked police, leaving at least five policemen, including the complainant, injured.

Like the previous days, several hundred people thronged the HC premises yesterday waiting for their bail hearing.