Describing bails granted to students arrested on charges of vandalism and attacking police as an ‘act of generosity’, Law Minister Anisul Huq said he hopes students will not spread rumours.
More than 50 students have secured bail from courts in Dhaka since Sunday, who were arrested during the road-safety protests.
“We have been generous over the issue and hope that they (students) will not spread rumours on Facebook or anywhere through other means,” Huq told Bangla Tribune on Monday.
Students across Dhaka demonstrated for more than a week from Jul 29, when a bus ploughed into a group of students waiting for transport at a stoppage on the Airport Road. Two college students were killed on the spot while several others were injured.
Describing the deaths as unfortunate, the law minister said the incident saddened everyone, including the prime minister.
“From the very beginning (of the protest), the government supported the students’ demands and started to implement those. But still, violence broke out on the streets. Hence, police made the arrests. Now the court has granted bail to some of them. The government finds it as a positive move,” he said.
Huq said that they had decided that the prosecution will not object if the court grants bail.
“And that’s what exactly happened. Not only that, 20 of the students who got bail had no representation in court. The government appointed counsels for them.”
The initially peaceful protests took a violent turn on Aug 4 when clashes broke out between students and police at the capital’s Jigatala.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) started 51 cases since Jul 29 over spreading rumours, violence and attack on police.
As many as 97 people were arrested until Aug 15 for their alleged involvement.

“We have shown generosity and we now hope they will not act on rumours or spread them,” said Law Minister Huq.