Hearing of remand prayer adjourned till Mar 30

Magistrate Mohammad Shamsul Alam of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court adjourned the hearing following a time petition by the defence lawyers.

In the petition, the lawyers said they filed a quashment petition on Wednesday with the High Court (HC) challenging the legality of the sections under which the charges were brought against Babul.

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If the time petition is not granted it would be tantamount to contempt of court as the matter is pending with the HC, Barrister Aneek R. Haque told the court.

The HC fixed March 28 for the next hearing on the issue, he added.

Moreover, the sections mentioned in the FIR (First Information Report) of the case were repealed by parliament last year, he said.

The prosecution side opposed the petition, saying that the defence lawyers could not bring a stay order from the HC. They prayed to the court for continuing the hearing on the issue. But the court adjourned the hearing.

Police yesterday produced Nurul Islam Babul before the court at 1:00pm amid tight security. The hearing took 45 minutes.

On March 23, police prayed for a seven-day remand to interrogate Babul, showing him an arrestee in the attempted rape case.

In the case filed with Badda thana, a woman alleged that she met Babul, also owner of the Bangla daily Dainik Jugantor, at his office in Motijheel on March 17 for a job and he took her to Kuril Bishwa Road by car with the help of an armed gang. She accused Babul of forcing her into a tin-shed house and attempting to rape her.

Advocates Syed Rezaur Rahman, Abu Sayeed Sagor, Quamrul Islam, Md Anwar Hossain, Abdul Bari and Nurul Islam Babul's wife Salma Islam appeared for the accused.