Court grants MP Gazi Nazrul four-day remand

A Dhaka court on Monday granted four days' police remand for Satkhira-4 MP Gazi Nazrul Islam and one day for his first wife, Maksuda Islam, in a case lodged over the alleged abetment of suicide following the death of his second wife, Mariam Khatun.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam passed the order on Monday (September 21) after protracted arguments from both sides. Earlier, the investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Shamsuzzoha Sarker, had sought seven days' remand for both accused, while public prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi argued in favour of the application and defence lawyers pleaded for bail. Meanwhile, the accused were produced before the court under tight security, wearing bulletproof jackets and helmets. Moreover, the investigating officer contended that questioning was indispensable to ascertain whether they had exerted direct or indirect influence on Mariam's death, subjected her to intimidation or psychological abuse, or otherwise contributed to the incident.

According to the case statement, police recovered Mariam's body from a flat at NAM Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on Sunday evening, and her father, S M Masum Billah, lodged the case later that night, naming Gazi Nazrul, Maksuda, and Mariam's uncle and driver, Obaidur Rahman. Furthermore, investigators cited the need to establish the circumstances surrounding the death, determine whether any unidentified individuals were implicated, and trace Obaidur, who remains at large.

Read More: Police seek 7-day remand for MP Gazi Nazrul, first wife

However, the allegations have surfaced against the backdrop of intimate videos involving Nazrul and Mariam that circulated on social media in July, after which Nazrul acknowledged Mariam as his second wife and was expelled from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami over alleged moral misconduct. Subsequently, Obaidur, who had filed a separate case against Nazrul following the controversy, and in which Nazrul secured eight-week bail from the High Court, was himself named as an accused in the suicide-abetment case.