Barrister Mainul Hosein has been shown arrested under the Digital Security Act for using abusive language against journalist Masuda Bhatti.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Asaduzzaman Noor issued the order and ordered Mainul to go to jail on Thursday (Nov 1), following a petition.
Gulshan police station’s Sub-Inspector Ziaul Haque, also investigation officer in this case, submitted the petition to show the former caretaker government adviser arrested in the case.
An Awami League leader filed the case against Mainul with the Cyber Crime Tribunal in Dhaka on Oct 25.
Earlier in the day, police produced Mainul in the court during the hearing.
The court set Nov 29 for the next hearing in the case.
Mainul is one of the sponsors of the Gano Forum chief Dr Kamal Hossain-led new alliance, Jatiya Oikya Front, with the BNP, JSD and Mahmudur Rahman Manna's Nagorik Oikya.
Mainul was in charge of law, justice and parliamentary affairs, among others, during his tenure in the caretaker government, when Awami League chief, now the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina and BNP chief Khaleda Zia was arrested on graft charges.
A son of The Daily Ittefaq editor late Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia, Mainul has triggered a firestorm of anger and criticism on Oct 16, when he called journalist Bhatti a ‘debauchee’ in Ekattor Journal, a live talk show on Ekattor TV.
Mainul’s brother Anwar Hossain Monju, a minister in the Hasina administration, owns Ittefaq following a 2010 deal among the brothers, who have been involved in a long drawn out rivalry.
The brothers’ battle for the ownership of the prestigious daily had made headlines for years.
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