Bail denied to cricketer Arafat Sunny in ICT case

A Dhaka court has turned down the bail petition by cricketer Arafat Sunny in an ICT case filed by a woman claiming to be his wife.

Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 24 Jan 2017, 11:50 AM
Updated : 24 Jan 2017, 12:54 PM

The spinner, who had played for the national team, stands accused of offensive posts containing pictures of the woman on social media.

On Tuesday, police produced him before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain Tipu, after questioning him in custody the previous day.

Police did not seek a further remand while defence counsels pleaded for bail, which was denied and Sunny was ordered to prison.

"The case is based on a false allegation and fake marriage documents. There is another case against him over a dowry, which is also false," said Sunny's defence counsel Jewel Ahmed.

Police arrested Sunny on Sunday after the 21-year-old woman filed the case on Jan 5 at the the Mohammadpur Police Station in Dhaka.

He was produced before the court the same day, where police were granted a day to interrogate him.

The woman claims she and Sunny met seven years ago. They became involved in a relationship and eventually got married in December 2014, without informing their parents.

The families came to know of their marriage afterwards, but she claimed Sunny kept buying time before he took her with him.

The family of the woman were growing restless and she asked Sunny to either take her, or arrange for dissolution of the marriage.

In June last year, Sunny opened a fake account on Facebook and began posting some of their intimate photos through messenger while threatening her, according to the case details.

Following Sunny's arrest, the woman filed another case on Monday accusing him of demanding dowry and physical assault.

But the 30-year-old left-arm bowler’s mother, Nargis Akter claimed her son was innocent and that the woman was trying to ‘frame’ him for money.

Nargis also said that the plaintiff could not show the documents confirming their marriage.

The spinner, who made his international debut against Sri Lanka in February 2014, played his last match for Bangladesh in the World T20 in March last year.

During the tournament in India, he and pacer Taskin Ahmed were suspended by ICC for illegal bowling actions.

Although the ban was later lifted after the game’s governing council approved his reworked action, he did not return to the national team.

Towards the end of last year he played for Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League where he grabbed 3 wickets without conceding any runs.

That makes him only the second player to achieve the feat in a 20-over game after Sri Lanka’s Dinuka Hettiarachchi.