Ron Sikder granted bail hours after arrest to attend father’s funeral

A Dhaka court on Friday afternoon granted bail to Ron Haque Sikder, managing director of the Sikder Group, after he had been arrested on charges of abducting and threatening two top bank executives with murder.

Ron Sikder, who had left Bangladesh in May last year, was arrested on Friday morning upon his arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from Dubai, following his father's death.

A team of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested him at around 10am immediately after he landed at the airport. He was later produced in court at around 3pm, Walid Hossain, DMP Deputy Commissioner (public relations and media), told The Business Standard.

Ron Sikder was produced in the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court, where Judge Ashek Imam accepted his ad interim bail plea until 10 March. The bail was granted on humanitarian grounds to allow Ron Sikder to join his father's funeral.

Ron Sikder's father Zainul Haque Sikder, chairman of the Sikder Group, died of Covid-19 on 10 February in Dubai. His body arrived in Dhaka on Friday afternoon by a chartered flight.

It was taken to his Dhanmondi residence and then to his first Namaz-e-Janaza at ZH Sikder Women's Medical College and Hospital at Rayerbazar. After getting bail, Ron Haque Sikder joined the funeral.

Zainul Haque Sikder will be laid to eternal rest at his Shariatpur ancestral home Saturday after the second Namaz-e-Janaza there, said family sources.

Sikder brothers left country with a police charge against them

Sikder Group Managing Director Ron Haque Sikder and Director Dipu Haque Sikder allegedly abducted two Exim Bank officials and threatened to shoot them dead. A case was filed by the bank with Gulshan Police Station on 19 May last year in this regard.

Later, Ron and Dipu fled to Thailand by an air ambulance on 25 May amid the coronavirus-led regular flight suspension.

According to the case statement, the bank officials were abducted on 7 May last year as they had turned down a Tk500 crore loan proposal of the Sikder Group.

After the Sikder brothers had fled Bangladesh, police seized a vehicle belonging to Ron Sikder amid uproar over reports of the brothers' escape from the country.

Sikders' unprecedented bail plea

While staying abroad, the Sikder brothers appealed for bail with the High Court. On 20 July last year, the High Court binned the bail plea, saying, "Such an unprecedented appeal is the first in human history. It is certainly astonishing."

"Other courts across the globe have observed the appeal with surprise and are startled and dumbfounded by seeing the supreme excellence of our legal system," the High Court observed.

The High Court noted that the accused leaving the country without managing bail or notifying the court was illegal. The applicants had dared to ignore the country's law and the court.