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Published : 25 Jul 2023, 04:34 PM
Babul Akter, a former superintendent of police, has been relieved of charges in a Digital Security Act case filed by the Police Bureau of Investigation chief Banaj Kumar Majumder, accusing his former colleague of spreading lies on social media.
Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge AM Zulfiqar Hayat announced the decision on Tuesday.
The court also cleared Babul’s father Abdul Wadud, a former police officer, of the charges due to a lack of substance in the complaint against them.
Wadud and Babul’s brother, Habibur Rahman Labu, were present in the court during the hearing. Babul was not at the hearing as he is being held in a jail outside the capital.
However, the judge accepted the charges against the two other suspects in the case, Labu and Elias Hossain, a YouTuber who was formerly involved with journalism in Bangladesh.
The tribunal set Aug 31 for the next hearing in the case, issuing an arrest warrant against Elias, who lives abroad, said Shamim Al Mamun, the judge's aide.
Earlier last month, Babul, the plaintiff-turned-suspect in the murder of his wife Mahmuda Akter Mitu, petitioned a Chattogram court to start a case against six police officers, including the PBI chief, on charges of torturing him on various occasions to “force a confession out of him”. His petition was rejected by the court.
Mitu was hacked and shot dead near the GEC Intersection in Chattogram on the morning of Jun 5, 2016, while she was taking her son to school. It happened a few days after Babul, who had been promoted to the rank of superintendent, joined the police headquarters in Dhaka.
After the incident, Babul started a case against a few unnamed suspects with the port city's Panchlaish Police Station.
It had initially been suspected that Babul’s actions against militants led to the murder of Mitu, but the investigation took a sharp turn after her family pointed the finger at Babul.
After the PBI took charge of the investigation, it found Babul’s involvement in the murder of his wife. Later, Babul was arrested.
The PBI said Babul had an affair with another woman, a stormy issue that led to the murder of Mitu.
The investigators pressed formal charges against Babul and six other suspects on Sept 13. Babul was named as the mastermind.
The case filed by Banaj named Elias as the main accused for his alleged attempt to destroy religious harmony, spread hatred among the Hindus and Muslims, tarnish the image of the police and the PBI chief, and damage Bangladesh’s relationship with India.
In the case, Banaj refuted claims made by Elias and Labu in YouTube videos that he framed Babul because of past animosity.
