‘Tarnishing govt’s image’: 5 returnees from Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain denied bail

A virtual court in Dhaka today rejected bail petitions of five of the 219 returnees from Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain--who were arrested under section 54 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for their alleged involvement in tarnishing the image of the government.

The accused who sought bail are: Shahidul Islam, Md Rassel, Akash Kayum, Kabir Hossain and Md Golam Rahman.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Tofazzal Hossain passed the order after their lawyers submitted two separate petitions seeking bails through email, claiming them as innocent.

Sub-inspector Rabindra Nath Roy opposed the bail petitions saying that the accused were directly involved in tarnishing the image of the government.

After hearing both sides, the magistrate rejected their bails considering the depth of offences.

Earlier on Saturday, a total of 219 people returning from Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain recently, were shown arrested under section 54 of CrPC.

Turag Police -- after gathering information from different sources about the people who were in a quarantine centre at Turag for 14 days --on Saturday submitted a forwarding report to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.

After evaluating the forwarding report placed before the court by MdShafiullah, an inspector of Turag Police Station, Metropolitan Magistrate Debbrata Biswas granted it and ordered to send them to Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.