Sued Under DSA: Court accepts charges against journo Kajol

A Dhaka tribunal yesterday accepted the charges pressed against photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol in another case filed under the Digital Security Act.

After accepting the charge sheet, Judge Mohammad Ash Sams Joglul Hossain of Dhaka Cyber Tribunal fixed October 20 for charge framing hearing against Kajol in the case, said Shamim Al Mamun, bench assistant to the tribunal.

Earlier on the day, Kajol was granted bail as he was on High Court bail.

On March 11 last year, Sumaiya Chowdhury Bonya, a member of the central committee of Jubo Mohila League, filed the case with Kamrangirchar Police Station.

On March 14 this year, Investigation Officer Mohammad Russell Mollah, also a sub-inspector of the Detective Branch of police, filed the charge sheet of the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.

Excluding this case, Awami League lawmaker (Magura-1) Saifuzzaman Shikhor and Jubo Mohila League's central committee member Usmin Ara Bally, also filed two cases with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and Hazaribagh police stations under the DSA on March 9 and 10 last year.

The charge sheets in the two cases were submitted to the court on April 8 and February 4.

On September 7, the tribunal accepted the charges against Kajol in a case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.

The case filed with Hazaribagh Police Station is also now pending with the same tribunal.

Journalist Kajol went missing on March 10 last year. The Border Guard Bangladesh found him roaming around the Benapole border area on May 3 and detained him.

He was sent to jail by a Jashore court the same day under section 54 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Later, he was shown arrested in the three cases filed under the DSA.

The lower court denied him bail for seven months until the High Court on November 24 granted him bail in one of the cases.

The HC, on December 17, granted him bail in two other cases after Kajol's lawyer argued that probes had to be complete within 75 days of the filing of the cases, and the investigators failed to do so.

The photojournalist walked out of jail on December 25.