The foreign national charged in the ATM forgery scam, Piotr Szczepan Mazurek, has attacked the Dhaka Tribune court correspondent Sanaul Islam Tipu in the lower court premises on Monday.
The incident took place immediately after the bail hearing of the accused around 4pm.
The Polish-German national apparently became aggravated as Tipu attempted to photograph him outside the courtroom at the conclusion of the remand hearing.
Also Read: ATM scam: Foreigner, 3 City Bank officials on 5-day fresh remand
The accused, with his left hand in handcuffs, hurled abuse at the reporter as he tried to carry out his professional duties, before lunging at him.
Tipu managed to avert a direct blow to the face but his mobile telephone was destroyed in the assault. He sustained minor injuries to the hand.
According to the law, a suspect's hands are supposed to remain free when in the dock before the judge.
At all other times during their transfer between the court and jail, both hands are supposed to be handcuffed.
During the assault on Monday, the right hand of the suspect was free, allowing the attack.
Senior lawyers and witnesses alleged that the police had been negligent in carrying out their duties.
HM Kamruzzaman, police deputy commissioner for prosecution, said: “We have heard about the incident and have instructed the authorities concerned to take necessary action.”
The Dhaka Tribune court correspondent also contacted Court Prison Officer-in-Charge Md Murad Ali, under whose care the suspect was.
He told the Dhaka Tribune that they were investigating the situation to see why the lapse in security had occurred.
The incident took place after Piotr and the three City Bank officials were placed in the court by the Detective Branch of police seeking a fresh eight-day remand.
The court granted five days for further interrogation of the arrestees.
The accused was previously in six day's remand that ended Monday.
