Narayanganj teacher Shyamal Kanti secures bail in bribery charges

Narayanganj teacher Shyamal Kanti Bhakta has been granted bail after spending a week in jail on bribery charges.

On Wednesday, the court of district and sessions judge granted bail to him until Jul 20, said his counsel Shakhawat Hossain Khan.

Bhakta, the headmaster of Piyar Sattar Latif High School, stands accused of taking bribe in a case filed by a teacher of the same school.

Plaintiff Morsheda Begum accused Bhakta of taking Tk 135,000 as bribe promising to include her as an employee in the government's monthly payment order or MPO scheme.

On May 24, he landed in jail after surrendering in court, when an arrest warrant was issued for him.

In May 2016, Bhakta was assaulted by a mob and made to squat up and down holding his ears in the presence of the local MP over an allegation that he had criticised Islam.

A video of the incident showed the Jatiya Party MP Salim Osman orchestrated the incident.

The school’s managing committee sacked the Hindu teacher. But the education ministry reinstated Bhakta and dissolved the school’s committee for violating rules.

The lawmaker faced intense public criticism and outrage after the video went viral on the social media.

It prompted thousands in Bangladesh to stage a unique protest by posting photos of themselves holding their ears and saying ‘Sorry Sir’.

Protests erupted across Bangladesh demanding the trial of Salim Osman and his accomplices.

The High Court ordered the local administration to investigate the matter, following which police filed a report describing the MP as 'innocent'.

The court then ordered a judicial investigation, rejecting ‘carelessly made’ reports by police and administration.

The judicial inquiry found the allegations against the teacher of criticising Islam untrue and testified to the MP's involvement in publicly humiliating and assaulting Bhakta.

Two months into the incident, on Jul 14 2016, three pleas were filed against Bhakta in the Narayanganj court levelling charges of hurting religious sensitivity, assaulting a student and for taking bribe.

The court scrapped the first two pleas, but ordered police to investigate the bribery charges.

On April 17 this year, police pressed charges against the schoolteacher and submitted the chargesheet to the court.

Bhakta has been denying the charges from the very beginning.