Molla ‘low and worried’

Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General and war criminal Abdul Quader Molla looked apparently low and worried Saturday during his family’s visit at the Kashimpur jail in Gazipur.

The Jamaat leader spoke to his wife Sanowara Jahan and their son and daughter for at least half an hour in the noon.

A prison official, seeking anonymity, told bdnews24.com, “He looked very sad while speaking with his family. There were clear signs of worries on his face.”

Kashimpur's Dhaka Central Jail Unit-2 Jailor Subhash Chandra Saha told bdnews24.com that Molla’s family came around 12:30pm. “They talked for nearly 30 minutes in the visiting room.”

Molla’s daughter Amatullah Parvin, son Hasan Jamil, and nephews Nurul Haque and Mostofa accompanied his wife.

Quader Molla is currently lodged in the jail’s cell number 60.

Kashimpur jail’s Senior Supervisor Mohammad Jahangir Kabir said Molla was sent to this jail on Feb 7 from the Dhaka Central Jail after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Feb 5 sentenced him to life in prison for his crimes committed against humanity during the War of Independence in 1971.

Authorities had assigned the Jamaat leader gardening duties as per his physical capability on the advice of prison doctors, Kabir said.

He said they ensured order and security for the inmates. The prisoners could get three months of their prison life deducted annually by showing good behaviour and work, he added.

Molla was taken to the Dhaka Central Jail from the Kashimpur unit on Feb 4 to present him before the war crimes tribunal. The tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment the next day.

But the people started protesting against the verdict at the capital’s Shahbagh intersection hours after it was delivered and demanded death penalty for Molla. The demonstration took the shape of a mass uprising in demand of capital punishment to him and all other convicted war criminals.

The movement stepped into its 19th day Saturday.