Former adviser to the caretaker government Barrister Mainul Hosein has been shown arrested in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.
Published : 01 Nov 2018, 02:46 PM
Mainul has already been detained in jail in a defamation case over his derogatory remark on a female journalist.
Sub-Inspector Ziaul Islam appealed to the court to show Mainul arrested in the case filed by Sumona Akhter Lily, a member of youth and sports sub-committee of the Awami League a week ago.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noorhas approved the appeal after the hearing on Thursday, said Mainul's lawyer Advocate Tuhin Howladar.
A series of cases have been filed against Mainul in parts of the country after he called journalist Masuda Bhatti a “woman of loose morals” in a TV talk-show on Oct 16.
Mainul was a frontline member of the new political alliance Jatiya Oikya Front led by Kamal Hossain.
The police arrested Mainul on Oct 23 in a defamation case filed in Rangpur. The Dhaka Magistrate’s Court rejected his bail plea and sent him to jail when he was presented to the court the next day.
Sumona Akhter Lily lodged a complaint against Mainul the same day, with the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal under the Digital Security Act.
Judge MA Jaglul ordered the Gulshan Police Station to receive the complaint as FIR.
Mainul’s defamatory remarks on Masuda Bhatti were irritating, insulting and demeaning not only to the journalist but also to all women, Lily said in her petition.
“He never apologised for it but disseminated the audio recording of a telephone conversation in the social media. He again called Masuda Bhatti a 'debauchee' in a media statement issued on the letterhead of the English daily The New Nation."
Mainul apologised to Bhatti in private, but she demanded a public apology. She filed a defamation case against Mainul after he ignored her demand.
Separately, Monira Sultana Moni, vice-chairman of the Bhaluka Upazila Parishad, filed a case under the Digital Security Act with the Mymensingh Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court.