Court asks OC to sue Farhad Mazhar, wife

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered police to sue writer and poet Farhad Mazhar and his wife Farida Akter for making a “false drama over abduction” of Farhad Mazhar in July this year.

After accepting the probe report submitted by detectives, Metropolitan Magistrate Khurshid Alam passed the order asking officer-in-charge (OC) of Adabar Police Station to lodge a case against the couple in this regard.      

Earlier in the day, Farida Akter and also the complainant of the abduction case filed a petition seeking permission for submitting a no-confidence (naraji) petition against the probe report (final report).

But the magistrate rejected the complainant's time petition.

Zainal Abedin Meshbah, one of Farida's lawyers, told The Daily Star that they would file a criminal revision against the order with the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka.

Earlier on November 14, detectives asked for permission to sue Farhad Mazhar and his wife on charges giving false statements to a court and police over the "abduction".

Inspector of Detective Branch of police Mahbubul Haque, who investigated the case, submitted the final report to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.

The probe found that the abduction was "a drama" staged by Farhad in an attempt to get money from his family members. 

The statements given by Farhad Mazhar and his wife to magistrates and police were "false and fabricated", said the investigation report.

The couple should be sued for their "misleading and false statement", said the investigation officer Mahbubul Haque.

On July 3, Farida Akter filed a case with the police station alleging that her husband Farhad Mazhar was abducted and the abductors demanded Tk 35 lakh for his release.

But it was "a lie" and it was “false, fabricated and concocted”, the IO added.