Better treatment for Manna needed

Meher Nigar, wife of detained Nagorik Oikya convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna, urged the government on Thursday to ensure her husband's better treatment through health check-up, and provide him division in jail, reports UNB.

Addressing a press conference at Topkhana Road Nagorik Oikya office in the city, she said as her husband, Manna, has been suffering from various ailments, including heart disease with several blocks, degeneration of spinal cord and high blood pressure, he needs specilised medical treatment.

"We believe my husband's heart condition deteriorated due to his arrest followed by mental torture as well," Meher Nigar alleged.

Asked whether Manna would contest the Dhaka City Corporation (South) as mayoral candidate, Meher Nigar, flanked by her daughter Neelam Manna, said, "Right now, our priority is his physical fitness instead of his mayoral candidature."

She also urged the government to release her husband on bail.

Nearly 21 hours after he was picked up by plainclothes lawmen from a house at Banani on February 23, Rabid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested the Nagarik Oikya convener and handed him over to Gulshan thana the following day.

The detention took place a day after the leaked audio phone conversations revealing that Manna was plotting to oust the incumbent Hasina government through violence, murder and by meeting with senior military officers.