Jailed former minister and Awami League leader Dipu Moni has been granted a 12-hour parole to attend the funeral of her husband, Supreme Court lawyer Toufiq Nawaz.
Munshiganj Additional District Magistrate Rezaul Karim said Dipu Moni has been permitted to remain on parole from 6am to 6pm on Thursday.
He said Munshiganj District Magistrate Syeda Nurmahal Ashrafi approved her parole application at around 3:10pm on Wednesday.
Dipu Moni’s daughter, Tani Dipaboli Nawaz, met her mother at Munshiganj Jail on Wednesday afternoon and discussed the duration of the parole. She later submitted an application to the district administration seeking her mother’s temporary release.
Dipu Moni’s lawyer, Gazi Faisal Islam, said the application was submitted after consulting with her. He said she would be released from jail at 6am Thursday under police escort and would remain under police protection throughout the 12-hour period.
According to the family’s plan, Toufiq Nawaz’s body will be taken to his residence in Kalabagan, Dhaka, on Thursday morning, where Dipu Moni will be allowed to see her husband for the final time.
The body will then be taken to Gulshan Azad Mosque, where the funeral prayer will be held after Zuhr. He will subsequently be buried at Banani Cemetery.
Dipu Moni will have to return to Munshiganj Jail by 6pm, her lawyer said.
Faisal said the parole was granted in accordance with legal provisions and that the government could have allowed a longer period of parole if it chose to do so.
Toufiq Nawaz, 76, died at Continental Hospital in Dhaka on Tuesday night. He had reportedly been suffering from various kidney and liver complications for a long time. According to Apple Khakshi, who was involved in his medical care, his condition deteriorated on Monday, after which he was taken to hospital.
A Supreme Court lawyer by profession, Toufiq Nawaz was also a practitioner of classical music. He suffered a stroke in 2019. On May 27, relatives took him to court in a wheelchair so that he could see his incarcerated wife.
Dipu Moni has secured bail in several cases at the High Court but remains in custody due to her involvement in several other cases filed in Dhaka and Munshiganj.
On May 27, Tani Dipaboli Nawaz had previously applied to the Munshiganj district administration seeking seven days’ parole for her mother, citing her father’s illness. That application, however, did not receive approval at the time.
Dipu Moni was arrested in several cases following the 2024 movement and is currently being held at Munshiganj Jail.