Former Superintendent of Police Babul Akter has been shown arrested by a court in another PBI case filed under the Digital Security Act.
The decision was delivered by Chattogram Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abdul Halim on Thursday.
“At the hearing, the court ordered Babul Akter to be shown arrested in the Digital Security Act case based on the petition from the police case investigating agency,” said Golam Mawla Murad, Babul’s lawyer, reports bdnews24.com.
The case was filed by PBI Special SP Naima Sultana at the city’s Khulshi Police Station on Oct 18. SI Arifur Rahman, the investigating officer in the case, filed the petition with the court. However, he did not make a remand petition to interrogate Babul.
The other accused in the case are Babul’s father Abdul Wadud, his brother Habibur Rahman Labu and Elias Hossain, a YouTuber. The four accused were sued by the PBI chief, Additional IGP Banaj Kumar Majumder, on similar charges in a case filed with Dhanmondi police last month. Elias, who lives abroad, was formerly involved with journalism in Bangladesh.
Babul was brought to court on Thursday and the hearing was held in his presence. He was taken back to Chattogram Central Prison after the hearing.
“We petitioned for Babul Akter’s bail and to speak with him for an hour,” said lawyer Murad. “The court did not make any decisions on those issues. They may set a later time to hear them.”
Plaintiff-turned-suspect Babul’s wife Mahmuda Akter Mitu was hacked and shot dead near the GEC Intersection in Chattogram on the morning of Jun 5, 2016, while she was taking her son to school. It happened a few days after Babul, who had been promoted to the rank of superintendent, joined the police headquarters in Dhaka.
After his wife, Babul started a case against a few unnamed suspects with the port city's Panchlaish Police Station.
After PBI took charge of the investigation, it found Babul’s involvement in the murder of his wife. Later Babul was arrested.
PBI said Babul had an affair with another woman, a stormy issue that led to the murder of Mitu.
The investigators pressed formal charges against Babul and six other suspects on Sept 13. Babul was named as the mastermind.
An investigation later concluded that Babul, the plaintiff in his wife’s murder case, had masterminded the killing. He was later taken into police custody.
At one point Babul petitioned a Chattogram court to start a case against six police officers, including the PBI chief, on charges of torturing him on various occasions to “force a confession out of him”. His petition was rejected by the court later.
The case filed by PBI chief Banaj named Elias as the main accused for his alleged attempt to destroy religious harmony, spread hatred among the Hindus and Muslims, tarnish the image of police and the PBI chief, and damage Bangladesh’s relationship with India.
In the case, Banaj refuted claims made by Elias and Labu in YouTube videos that he framed Babul because of past animosity.