Jugantor reporter Lablu sued in digital security case in Chattogram

A Jugantor reporter has been sued in a case under the Digital Security Act in Chattogram over the publication of a report amid heated discussions over the detention of Prothom Alo reporter Samsuzzaman Shams in a case under the same controversial digital security law.

Former Chhatra League and Jubo League leader Helal Akbar Chowdhury Babor filed the case against Jugantor reporter Mahbub Alam Lablu on Wednesday, said Chattogram Cyber Tribunal’s public counsel Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury.

Cyber Tribunal Judge Md Zahirul Kabir accepted the case and ordered the Cyber Crime Unit of police to submit a report on the matter after an investigation, he said.

Babor brought the allegation against Lablu under sections 25, 26 and 29 of the 2018 act after the daily newspaper published a report online addressing him as an ‘occupant, tender grabber, mugger and godfather of terrorists’ in the report. The reporter defamed the ruling party leader by sharing the article on social media as well, the case statement read.

Babor, the plaintiff of the case, was a former finance secretary of Jubo League’s central committee and former general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Omargani MES University College unit in Chattogram. He was a steering committee member of Chhatra League’s Chattogram Sadar wing.

The Jugantor published a report on its online portal titled ‘Railway held hostage by Dubai-returnee Shah Alam syndicate’ on Mar 13, bringing allegations against Babor for his involvement with the syndicate, according to the case statement.

Currently, Babor is an active ruling party politician. He was named in a double murder case centring the fight over control of the railway tenders in the port city’s CRB area but acquitted of charges afterwards.

Babor’s statement in that case was also republished in the Jugantor report.

“The report claimed Babor was an ‘occupant, tender grabber, mugger and godfather of terrorists’ but there is no criminal case or complaint filed against him,” the case statement read.