Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa sent to jail

A Dhaka court on Saturday sent former chief news editor of the private channel Ekattor TV Shakil Ahmed and his wife, former chief reporter and anchor Farzana Rupa to jail after their nine-day remand period.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Farzana Shakila Sumu Chowdhury denied their bail plea and ordered them to be sent to jail.

Following a nine-day remand in two separate cases, Inspector Mintu Chandra Banik of Adabor Police Station, the investigating officer, presented them in court.

Their lawyer, Rahim Mia, sought bail, but the prosecution opposed it. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court decided to send them to jail.

Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa were detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport along with their daughter on August 21.

They were scheduled to depart from Dhaka airport at 6:20am via Turkish Airlines to Paris, France, via Istanbul. 

However, due to a case filed with the Uttara East police station, the Special Branch of Police did not grant them departure clearance.

Later, a team from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch took them to the DB office for questioning.