Actress Pori Moni has secured bail after surrendering before a court in a case filed over allegations of assault, vandalism and intimidation.
On Thursday, Senior Judicial Magistrate Mahfuzur Rahman’s court in Dhaka granted her bail on a bond of Tk500 following a hearing.
Her lawyer, Nilanjana Rifat, confirmed the development.
On Wednesday, a Dhaka court rejected a time petition filed on behalf of Pori Moni and her costume designer, Zunaid Baghdadi Jimmy alias Jimi, and cancelled their bail before issuing arrest warrants against them.
In the petition, the defence lawyer said Pori Moni had been unable to attend the hearing scheduled for Wednesday because she was suffering from an allergy-related illness. The lawyer sought an adjournment, arguing that her absence could cause irreparable harm. However, the complainant appeared in court and sought cancellation of the accused persons’ bail. After hearing both sides, the court cancelled their bail and issued the warrants.
On March 18, 2024, Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Dhaka district inspector Md Monir Hossain submitted an investigation report to the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka, finding the allegations of assault and intimidation against Pori Moni and her costume designer substantiated. The report, however, found no evidence against another accused, Fatema Tuz Jannat Bony.
On January 26 last year, the same court framed charges and ordered the trial to begin. Nasir Uddin filed the case in a Dhaka court on July 6, 2022.
According to the complaint, Pori Moni and her associates entered the Savar Boat Club after midnight on June 9, 2021, used a second-floor washroom and later drank alcohol inside the club.
The complainant alleged that, as he and his associate Shah Shahidul Alam were leaving at around 1:15am, Pori Moni called him over and asked him to sit with them. She allegedly pressured him to provide a bottle of Blue Label whisky without charge. When he refused, she verbally abused him.
The complaint further alleged that during an argument, Pori Moni threw a serving glass and her mobile phone at Nasir Uddin, injuring him in the head and chest. She and her associates also allegedly assaulted him, threatened to kill him and vandalised property.
Following the incident, Pori Moni filed a separate case with Savar police against Nasir Uddin and another person, accusing them of attempted rape and attempted murder. That case is pending before Dhaka’s Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-9.