Journalist arrested under DSA in Meherpur gets bail

A journalist was granted bail today in a case filed under Digital Security Act, after he was arrested by police from his house at Banshbaria village in Meherpur's Gangni upazila this morning.

Meherpur Senior Judicial Magistrate Rafia Sultana granted bail to daily Meherpur Pratidin Joint Editor Al Amin Hossain at 5:30pm today, reports our Kushtia correspondent.

"Police arrested Al Amin during a raid at his house this morning," Gangni Police Station Officer-in-Charge Bazlur Rahman told The Daily Star.

According to the OC, Sabuj Hossain, nephew of former independent MP from Meherpur-2 Maqbool Hossain, had filed the case under DSA at Gangni Police Station on May 13, 2020, against three journalists including SM Emon, publisher of daily Meherpur Pratidin, its editor Yadul Momin and joint editor Al Amin.

The plaintiff, in the case statement, claimed that a false report was published in the daily about his uncle Maqbool on "illegally occupying a house for the last 26 years" and that the report tarnished his (Maqbool's) image in society.

Yadul Momin, editor of the newspaper claimed that his newspaper has all the supporting data in favour of the report.

On March 9 this year, an arrest warrant was issued against Al Amin by the Meherpur Chief Judicial magistrate after the charge-sheet of the case was submitted by the investigation officer of the case Sub-inspector Shahabul Islam,

When contacted, Maqbool Hossain said he had already moved out of the house. The Daily Star was unable to contact the house owner for his comments despite several attempts.