Ruling party leader sues Jugantor editor, reporter

AKM Afzalur Rahman Babu, general secretary of Bangladesh Awami Swechchhasebak League, today filed a Tk 50 crore defamation case against the editor and a reporter of the daily Jugantor for making "derogatory" remarks against him in a news item published on August 10.

The accused are Jugantor Editor Saiful Alam and Md Jasim Uddin, its Cox's Bazar correspondent.

After the hearing, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ali Haider recorded statement of the complainant and issued summons asking the two accused to appear before it on September 14, said one of prosecution lawyers Gazi Hasan Mahmud.

In his complaint, Afzalur Rahman alleged that the daily ran a news item on August 10 titled "Swechasebak League Leader Babur Kando: Cox's Bazar e Shoto Koti Takar Jomi Dakhal" which was false, fabricated and concocted and it tarnished his reputation socially and politically.

The news tarnished his image in the monetary amount of Tk 50 crore, he said in the complaint.

The complainant appealed to the court to issue arrest warrants against the accused for committing such "offences".