Journalist Kajol placed on 2-day remand

A virtual court in Dhaka placed photojournalist and editor of the fortnightly magazine 'Pokkhokal' Shafiqul Islam Kajol on a two-day remand in a case filed with Hazaribagh Police Station under the Digital Security Act.

Metropolitan Magistrate Debdash Chandra Adhikary on Sunday (June 28) passed the order after a hearing through videoconferencing with the authorities of Keraniganj Central Jail.

Earlier, Sub-Inspector Mohammad Rassel Mollah of Detective Branch of Police and also investigation officer of the case, filed an application with the court seeking a 10-day remand prayer.

Defence lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua submitted a petition seeking bail along with cancellation of the remand prayer while the prosecution opposed the bail.

After hearing both sides, the magistrate rejected the bail petition and placed Kajol on a two-day remand for interrogation.

Kajol had gone missing on March 10, a day after the case was filed by Awami League's Magura 1 MP Saifuzzaman Shikhor with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in Dhaka on March 9.

Kajol and 31 others, including Manabzamin Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, were accused in the case, filed under the Digital Security Act, for publishing and sharing a news article on social media regarding expelled Jubo Mohila League leader Shamima Noor Papia.

In total, three cases were filed against Kajol at the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Kamrangirchar and Hazaribagh police stations under the Digital Security Act in March.

Fifty-three days into his disappearance, Kajol was found by Border Guard Bangladesh in Benapole on May 3.

He was then arrested -- initially on charges of trespassing -- but was granted bail after being produced before a Jashore court.

Later in the evening, he was shown held under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after police informed the court that three more cases against Kajol were now pending with different police stations in the capital.

The court then sent him to Jashore jail.


Dhaka/Mamun/AI