Photojournalist Kajol denied bail

A Dhaka court rejected a bail petition of photojournalist and editor of the fortnightly magazine 'Pokkhokal' Shafiqul Islam Kajol in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

Metropolitan Magistrate Dhiman Chandra Mondol of Virtual Court-4 passed the order on Wednesday (June 24).

Kajol’s lawyer Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua submitted a petition seeking his bail while the prosecution opposed it during today's hearing through videoconferencing.

After hearing both sides, the virtual court rejected the bail petition.

Earlier on Tuesday (June 23), Kajol was shown arrested in the case.

Kajol had gone missing on March 10, a day after the case was filed by Awami League's Magura 1 MP Saifuzzaman Shikhor with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in Dhaka on March 9.

Kajol and 31 others, including Manabzamin Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, were accused in the case, filed under the Digital Security Act, for publishing and sharing a news article on social media regarding expelled Jubo Mohila League leader Shamima Noor Papia.

In total, three cases were filed against Kajol at the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Kamrangirchar and Hazaribagh police stations under the Digital Security Act in March.

Fifty-three days into his disappearance, Kajol was found by Border Guard Bangladesh in Benapole on May 3.

He was then arrested -- initially on charges of trespassing -- but was granted bail after being produced before a Jashore court.

Later in the evening, he was shown held under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after police informed the court that three more cases against Kajol were now pending with different police stations in the capital.

The court then sent him to Jashore jail.

Dhaka/Mamun/AI