Digital Security Act case: Court refuses to hear bail petition of Kajol

A virtual court in Dhaka today refused to hold hearing on a petition seeking bail for photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol, as he is yet to be shown arrested in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

The case against Kajol was filed by Saifuzzaman Shikhor, a ruling party lawmaker from Magura-1, with Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Police Station on March 9.

Metropolitan Magistrate Dhiman Chandra Mondol passed order after Kajol's lawyer submitted a petition seeking bail in the case through an email.

Meanwhile, another Dhaka virtual court will tomorrow hear a petition submitted for showing Kajol arrested in the same case.

The court on June 16 sent an email to the jail authorities scheduling a virtual hearing on the petition and directed authorities of Keraniganj Central Jail to bring Kajol from Jashore Jail before the hearing.

Motlubur Rahman, an inspector of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and also the investigation officer in the case, submitted the application on May 4.

As per provision of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), no bail petition will be filed until or unless any person is shown arrested in any case.

Two more cases under the same act were subsequently filed against Kajol on March 10 and 11 with Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar police stations respectively.

Fifty-three days into his disappearance, Kajol was found by Border Guard Bangladesh in Benapole on May 3.

He was then arrested -- initially on charges of trespassing, but was granted bail after being produced before a Jashore court.

Later in the evening he was shown held under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after police informed the court that three more cases against Kajol were now pending with different police stations in the capital.

The court then sent him to Jashore jail.