A case has been filed under the Digital Security Act against three people including Sarkar Mazharul Mannan, head of the Rangpur Bureau of Jamuna Television, due to the broadcast of an investigative news on the private television.
Judge Dr Abdul Majeed of Rangpur Divisional Cyber Tribunal on Wednesday directed the PBI of Rangpur to investigate the case.
The other two defendants in the case are Noor Mohammad and former councillor of Ward No 15 of Rangpur City Corporation Shafiul Islam Shafi.
Zakaria Alam Shiplu, Ward Councillor No 15 of Rangpur City Corporation, filed the case as the plaintiff.
According to the complaint, on April 1 at 9pm Jamuna Television's crime investigation program “Crime Scene” termed Councillor Zakaria Alam Shiplu as a land robber and aired a long report on his various criminal activities including creating a terrorist force in the name of the government party, harassing the common people and dealing in drugs.
Councillor Shiplu alleged that the accused have conspired to defame him and spread false propaganda to weaken the power of the current government and the pro-independence party.
Zakaria Alam Shipul said: “All the allegations against me in the news broadcast on Jamuna Television are false and baseless. This news has been disseminated to tarnish the image of the government. For this reason, I filed the case in the cyber tribunal on Wednesday afternoon.”
The plaintiff's lawyer SM Mahamudul Haque Salim and Public Prosecutor Ruhul Amin Talukder said that the complaint has been made under Sections 24-2, 25-2, 27-2, 29-1 and 31-2 of the Digital Security Act of 2018.
The court directed the PBI to investigate the case taking the complaint into account, he said.
Jamuna Television's Rangpur Bureau Chief Sarkar Mazhar Mannan alleged that this case was filed with the intention of suppressing the voice of the media.
He said the report had been prepared with proof against Councillor Shiplu who had been in jail for a year and his cadres for carrying out various crimes including land grabbing, drug society, etc.
Meanwhile, Rangpur Press Club President Mahbub Rahman, Rangpur Reporters Club President Nazrul Islam Raju, including representative of various organizations, said that the voice of journalists cannot be suppressed by filing false cases. They demanded immediate withdrawal of the case.
Meanwhile, journalists protested against the filing of false harassment cases against journalists and protested in front of the Rangpur Press Club at around 11am on Thursday.
