Dhaka: The Appellate Division on Thursday stayed the High Court order granting bail to the Pinak-6 ferry owner Abu Bakkar Siddique for two weeks in a case filed in connection with the capsize of the ferry.

Appellate Division chamber judge Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order after hearing on a petition filed by the government seeking a stay on the HC order.

Emerging from the court, Deputy Attorney General Khandaker Mohammad Diliruzzaman told reporters that ferry owner Abu Bakkar Siddique will not be released from the jail now due to the stay order.

Earlier, on March, the High Court granted six-month interim bail to Abu Bakkar Siddique in the case.

On 14 August 2014, a Munshiganj judicial magistrate court sent Abu Bakkar to jail.

The overloaded ferry with more than 250 passengers on board from Kawrakandi sank in the River Padma, 800 yards off Mawa ferry terminal, on 4 August last year due to strong currents while it was heading towards the terminal.

Forty-eight bodies were recovered following the tragic ferry capsize while its 62 passengers remained missing.