Court Correspondent
A Dhaka court yesterday issued an arrest warrant against BNP leader Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky’s son Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky in a defamation case filed on charges of making derogatory remarks about former prime minister Khaleda Zia and several others including her political adviser ASM Hannan Shah.
Brigadier General (rtd) ASM Hannan Shah, also a former jute minister, filed the case against Irad with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM) Court of Dhaka.
After the hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate Dr Abdul Majid recorded statements of the complainant, took the charges into cognisance against the accused and passed the arrest warrant order.
In his complaint, Hannan Shah said that Irad, at a press briefing at his Gulshan home on March 9, claimed that Hannan Shah has a corruption record and called the complainant ‘an illegitimate son of democracy’.
The statement, published in different national dailies the next day, was false, baseless and fabricated. It was done to damage the image of the complainant in the society as well as the political arena. Several electronic media houses broadcast the press briefing, the complainant added.
The accused not only tried to damage the image of the complainant but also the image of Khaleda Zia, former Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) mayors Mohammad Hanif, Mirza Abbas and incumbent Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, he said.
Coming down heavily on former DCC mayors, Irad had said all of them have failed. “How does a responsible political party nominate people like Mirza Abbas, Sadeque Hossain Khoka or Hannan Shah who all have corruption records?” he had said.
Irad Ahmed at a press briefing on March 9 claimed that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia demanded Tk 5 crore from Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) mayor aspirant Irad in exchange for party backing in the upcoming DCC mayoral election.
Irad Ahmed, in presence of his father, BNP standing committee member Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, said, “I met the BNP chairperson and she wanted to know if I had enough money.”
“I told her that honest and competent candidates are not supposed to have enough money. In reply she said, ‘I will be very frank’ and asked for Tk 5 crore from me. I told her that I will not give her the money from my bank account since I am neither a Mosaddak Ali Falu nor a Mirza Abbas,” he said.
Courtesy of www.thedailystar.net
