Mahmudur Rahman sent to jail after surrender

A Dhaka court has sent Mahmudur Rahman, former acting editor of the daily Amar Desh, to jail after he surrendered in a case filed on the charges of attempting to abduct and murder Sajeeb Wajed Joy, son of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbubul Haque passed the order on Sunday after Mahmudur, through his lawyer, submitted a bail petition. 

His lawyers, Syed Joynul Abedeen Mezbah and Sheikh Shakil Ahmmed Ripon, confirmed the matter.

Syed Joynul stated, “Under the Criminal Procedure Code, a court cannot grant bail if the sentence is more than one year. Mahmudur was sentenced to seven years on August 17 of last year-five years under one section and two years under another. Therefore, this court is unable to grant bail. We will soon apply for his bail in the higher court, and we are hopeful for a positive outcome.”

Earlier, on August 17, 2023, Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment in absentia in the case. Senior journalist Shafique Rehman, Vice President of Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskrit Sangtha Mohammad Ullah Mamun, his son Rizvi Ahmmed alias Sejar, and US expatriate Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan were also convicted in the same case.

According to the case details, the accused held meetings at home and abroad for the kidnapping and killing of Joy, the then ICT advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in September 2011.

Inspector Fazlur Rahman of the Detective Branch (DB) filed the case with Paltan Model Police Station on August 3, 2015, and submitted the charge sheet on February 19, 2018. 

A total of 12 people, including Joy, gave their depositions before the court in this connection.