Former minister and Awami League leader Dipu Moni has been taken to Gulshan’s Azad Mosque in a prison van to attend the funeral of her husband, Supreme Court lawyer Tawfique Nawaz.

She was released on 12-hour parole to attend her husband’s funeral, reports bdnews24.com.

She was taken from her Kalabagan home in the prison van shortly after 12:15 pm on Thursday, about 10 minutes after a refrigerated van carrying Tawfique Nawaz’s body left for Gulshan.

Awami League leader Zakia Sultana Shefali from Chandpur visited Dipu Moni to offer her support.

“She is not well. You can understand what her condition must be at a time like this,” she said.

Zakia said several other party workers had also met Dipu Moni.

Dipu Moni was brought to Dhaka from Munshiganj Jail at 6:15am under tight police security and reached her Kalabagan home around 9am.

Tawfique’s body was also brought to the house in the morning and kept in a refrigerated van in the garage below the building.

Five people, including the muezzin of the local Bashir Uddin Road Mosque, were reciting the Quran on a cloth spread on the floor beside the van.

Police maintained a strong presence around the house and questioned people entering the premises.

A relative of Dipu Moni from Chandpur, who spoke to bdnews24.com shortly before 11am, said Dipu Moni was devastated and emotionally distressed and did not want to eat.

According to the family’s decision, Tawfique’s body was to be taken to Gulshan Azad Mosque for funeral prayers after Zuhr, followed by burial at Banani Cemetery.

Kalabagan Police chief Mohammad Fazle Ashik said Dipu Moni would remain in the prison van during the funeral prayers. If time permitted, she could attend the burial; otherwise, she would be taken back to jail. Her parole is valid until 6pm on Thursday.

Dipu Moni has been detained at Munshiganj Jail after being arrested in several cases following the 2024 movement.

Tawfique, 76, died at Continental Hospital, formerly United Hospital, in Dhaka on Tuesday night. He had suffered from kidney and liver complications for years.

A Supreme Court lawyer by profession, he also practised classical music.

He suffered a stroke in 2019, and relatives last took him to court in a wheelchair on May 27 to see his wife in custody.

Tawfique’s friend, Supreme Court lawyer MK Rahman, described him as a “very decent man” and said he had suffered from illnesses since 2020.

The couple’s son is in China, while their daughter lives in Dhaka, Rahman said.