Barrister Mainul Hosein has landed in jail in a case over his remarks on live television defaming female journalist Masuda Bhatti.
On Tuesday, the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Kaisarul Islam denied bail to Mainul, a former adviser to the 2007-8 military-backed caretaker administration.
He was detained late on Monday from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President ASM Abdur Rab’s home in Dhaka’s Uttara and taken to the Detective Branch offices.
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.
The case against Mainul, the publisher and editorial board chief of The Daily New Nation, was started in Rangpur and a court there issued a warrant against him, police said.
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.
Also read
