Actress Nawshaba denied bail in Facebook rumour case, hospitalised

Actress and model Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed has been hospitalised following orders of a Dhaka court that refused her bail in a case over spreading rumours on Facebook during student protests for safe roads.

She fell sick when the police took her to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court of Dhaka after two rounds of remand on Monday afternoon.

Police took her directly to the hospital from the court premises without presenting her in court, SI Shawkat Akber of the court police told bdnews24.com.

Nawshaba has been suffering from diarrhoea and was released after treatment in the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital’s emergency department, said Dr 'Naser'.

The judge reprimanded investigation officer of the case Inspector Md Rafiqul Islam for taking her to hospital without informing the court, lawyers present at the hearing told bdnews24.com

Rafiqul did not seek any more time to remand the actress for questioning and took her back to the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noor, said AH Imrul Kawser, the lawyer for Nawshaba.

The court heard Nawshaba’s bail petition in her absence but denied her bail, the lawyer said.

“What if something bad happens to her in police custody? We want to get her treated outside the police custody,” he argued in the hearing.

She was supposed to be taken to jail after her bail petition was rejected, but CMM Court Prison OC Md Motaleb told bdnews24.com after the hearing that Nawshaba’s name was not on the list of people sent to jail.

Investigator Rafiqul did not take calls from bdnews24.com for information on the whereabouts of the actress.

Lawyer Imrul could not confirm where his client was taken.

“She is ill. She needs to undergo some medical tests. Maybe she has been taken to a hospital,” he said.

bdnews24.com has learnt that Nawashaba was taken to the Labaid Hospital in the afternoon and transferred to the DMCH after 10pm.

“She is being treated at a hospital following court orders,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com.  

Students demanding safer roads and staff at the Awami League’s Dhanmondi offices had clashed violently at Dhaka’s Jigatala on Aug 4.

Amidst ‘rumours’ that students had been killed in the clash, Nawshaba streamed a video on Facebook, falsely claiming that two students had been killed and that one had his eye gouged out.

She was then detained by the RAB in Dhaka’s Uttara the same day.