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DHAKA, Wednesday (Reuters) Bangladeshi journalist Enamul Haque Chowdhury, a part-time Reuters reporter, was freed on bail from Dhaka central jail on Wednesday, witnesses said.

Police have accused Chowdhury of fabricating comments attributed to the interior minister in a Reuters story on a series of bomb blasts in cinemas on December 7 that killed at least 17 people.

Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury had denied speaking with the reporter. He had been quoted as commenting on possible suspects in the explosions in the northern town of Mymenshingh at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Formal charges against the reporter have not been made public.

He was arrested on December 13 after Reuters withdrew five stories on the blasts, saying it could no longer vouch for their accuracy.

Chowdhury was a senior reporter with state news agency BSS at the time. BSS reported that he had been accused of "disseminating a fabricated news story which quoted the home minister without communicating with him".

"Such (a) malicious story destroyed the country's image abroad and threatened Bangladesh's relations with friendly nations," BSS quoted a police statement as saying.

Chowdhury was met at the gates of the jail by his lawyer and brother-in-law. He appeared tired and made no immediate comment.

Bail was ordered by the High Court. An earlier bail order by the court was thwarted when police immediately rearrested him. 

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