A Dhaka court on Wednesday rejected separate bail petitions of 11 expatriate Bangladeshis among the 219, who recently returned from Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, for their alleged involvement in attempts to tarnish the image of the government.
A virtual court in Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md. Tofazzal Hossain passed the order after hearing separate bail petitions filed by the accused’s counsel Masud Rana.
The bail-seekers were: Shahidul Islam, 53; Md. Rasel, 34; Akash Kaiyum,35; Kabir Hossain, 40; Gopal Rahman,27; Kaisar Hossain,33; Abed Ali,40; Md Alam,29; Ashraful Alam,44; Md Habib,30 and Mirza Azam,36.
The general recording officer of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Sub-Inspector Md. Shafiqul Islam opposed the bail petitions saying that the detained accused were directly involved in attempts to tarnish the image of the government.
After a hearing, the court rejected their bail petitions.
Following their arrivals, the ex-pats were sent to a 14-day quarantine at the army-operated facility in Diabari.
After receiving reports, police moved the court to arrest them under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows law-enforcers to make an arrest without a warrant.
These expatriates were serving jail terms in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain on various charges, according to the court’s General Recording Officer Shafiqul Islam.
“They were released from jail and deported due to the coronavirus outbreak. They have been arrested for conspiring to tarnish Bangladesh’s image,” he said.
