Pori shown arrested in narco case
Placed on 4-day remand
Actor Pori Moni and film producer Nazrul Islam Raz were shown arrested yesterday in two separate cases filed by the Rapid Action Battalion under the Narcotics Control Act.
Raz, owner of Raz Multimedia, will also be sued under the Pornography Control Act, Khandaker Al Moin, director (legal and media) of Rab, said at a press briefing at the Rab headquarters in the capital.
Members of the elite force detained Pori Moni and Raz after raiding their houses on Wednesday night. They seized foreign liquor and narcotics from there.
Ashraful Islam alias Dipu, an associate of Pori Moni, and Md Sabuj Ali, Raz's associate, were also shown arrested in the two narcotics cases.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court placed Pori Moni, Raz and their two associates on four-day remand in connection with the two cases filed with Banani Police Station, Additional Public Prosecutor Tapash Kumar Pal told The Daily Star.
The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mamunur Rashid passed the order after Sheikh Sohel Rana, investigating officer of the cases, sought seven-day remand for each of the four arrestees.
The cases were handed over to the Detective Branch of Police, Nure Alam Miah, officer-in-charge of Banani Police Station, told this newspaper late last night.
At the press briefing, Khandaker Al Moin said Rab raided Raz's house after getting information from Mishu Hasan, an associate of model Faria Mahbub Piasha.
Rab recovered liquor, narcotics and sex toys from the house.
Piasha, model Moriom Akter Mou and Mishu were arrested earlier in similar drives.
Pori Moni used to host regular parties at her home, where Nazrul Islam Raz had been supplying foreign liquor and various types of narcotics, said Rab officials.
Rab officials said the detainees organised parties attended by models at flats in posh Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara areas where people used to take drugs and engage in immoral activities.
"After interrogating the arrestees, we have got names of some more people who are said to be involved in the racket. We are now verifying those," Rab Additional Director General (Operations) Col KM Azad told The Daily Star.
The officials said the members of the racket blackmailed influential and well-off people by taking compromising pictures of them, and extracted huge amount of money from them with threats of releasing the photos.
Drives are underway to bust the racket which includes actors, film producers, models, and businessmen, among others, said sources in law enforcement agencies.
Meanwhile, Pori Moni's lawyer Nilanjona Rifat Surovi told the court that the liquor shown as recovered was not from Pori Moni's house. She had a few empty liquor bottles in her house and they were kept as decoration pieces. Also, she had no ice and no LSD, according to court sources.
"She is a well-known actress and the case has been filed to tarnish her image," she told the court, praying for her bail.