Farzana Rupa slapped at court premises

A court in Dhaka has placed former head of news of Ekattor Television Shakil Ahmed and former chief correspondent Farzana Rupa on a four-day remand in a case filed over the death of one Md Fazlul Karim at Uttara during the recent unrest. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ahmed Humayun Kabir passed the order on Thursday placing them on remand.

Earlier, the investigation officer of the case sub-inspector of Uttara East Police Station Mohaiminur Rahman pleaded for a 10-day remand for investigation producing them before the court.

Earlier in the afternoon, lawyers and commoners chanted slogans when they were being produced before the court. At that time, a person was seen putting slap on the head of Farzana Rupa.

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

They were leaving the Dhaka airport at 6:20am by a flight of 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 allow them departure clearance.

Later, a team from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch took them to the DB office at Minto Road in the capital for questioning.

Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa were detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Wednesday morning. 

They were leaving the Dhaka airport along with their daughter at 6:20am by a flight of Turkish Airlines to Paris, France, via Istanbul. 

Due to a case filed with the Uttara East Police Station, the Special Branch of Police did not allow them departure clearance.

Later, a team from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch took them to the DB office at Minto Road in the capital for questioning.

According to police, the case, in which Shakil and Farzana, were shown arrested, was filed on August 21. The case was filed under Section 302 (charges of murder) and Sections 114 and 109 of the Penal Code at Uttara East Police Station.

Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa are husband and wife. They had been working at Ekattor Television over the last several years. The Ekattor Television authorities removed them from their posts on August 8 last. On that day, the private television channel in a notice said Shakil Ahmed (head of news) and Farzana Rupa (principal correspondent and presenter) were relieved from their posts from August 8.

END/SZA