Court Correspondent

Mahmudur Rahman, the editor of the Amar Desh newspaper, has been sent to jail after surrendering to a court in the case over the ‘kidnapping with intent to murder conspiracy’ against Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mahabubul Haque gave the order after a hearing on Sunday.

His defence lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukdar said that he [Mahmudur] is very respectful of the law and has never asked for special privileges.

He asked for first class division privileges for Mahmudur in jail and the court ordered action to be taken according to the penal code on the matter.

On Aug 17, 2023, a Dhaka court sentenced Mahmudur, former Jai Jai Din newspaper editor Shafik Rehman, Mohammad Ullah Mamun, vice-president of pro-BNP organisation Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha, his son Rizve Ahmed Caesar, and Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, a businessman living in the US to seven years in jail in connection with the case.
A New York court handed a three-year jail term to Rizve in 2015 after finding him guilty of bribing an FBI official to obtain classified information.

An FBI agent linked to Rizve was also sentenced to five years in jail.

As per the court document, Rizve handed the information to a Bangladeshi journalist in return for $30,000.

The matter had triggered discussions in Bangladesh parliament.

Joy, who lives in the US with his family, accused BNP leaders of conspiring to “abduct and kill him” in a Facebook post in March that year.

Bangladesh Police started the case at Paltan Police Station in August 2015 over the “plot to abduct Joy”.

According to the charges pressed against the accused in 2018, BNP loyalist Mamun, and other top leaders of the party and its allies gathered at their office in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan, New York, and the UK at some point before September 2011 to chalk out a plan to murder Joy after abducting him.

Rizve collected personal details of Joy, especially his location, from the FBI and provided it to the other suspects, according to the chargesheet.

SHAFIK, MAHMUDUR GOT JOY’S INFO FROM RIZVE

Shafik Rehman is the former editor of the Jai Jai Din while Mahmudur Rahman was acting editor of Bangla-language newspaper Amar Desh – both known for their affiliation with the BNP.

After his arrest in April 2016, Shafik was quizzed on remand two times.

Police said they found confidential information on Joy at Shafik’s home in Dhaka.

Shafik’s wife Taleya Rehman claimed he sought the information on Joy for an investigative report.

Shafik was freed on bail five months later. He then travelled to the UK.

Mahmudur, a former advisor to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, was arrested in 2013 in a case over alleged treason. He was shown arrested in the case over the plot to abduct Joy in 2016.

Police said Mahmudur received information, including location, on Joy and his family from Rizve via Mizanur.

Mahmudur went to London after securing bail in November 2016.

WHAT JOY SAID

Joy testified in the case in November 2022.

Citing Joy’s testimony, his lawyer said the US Department of Justice contacted the prime minister’s son and informed him that two FBI officials wanted to talk to him about a matter.

When Joy met the FBI agents, they asked if he knew Rizve, Mahmudullah, Shafik or Mahmudur.

Joy said he did not know Rizve or Mahmudullah but had heard the names of the newspaper editors.

The FBI then revealed that it had detained one of its officials on charges of taking $40,000 from Rizve and others and striking a deal with them to provide personal details of Joy, especially his location, in exchange for $30,000 a month.

The FBI later arrested Rizve and learnt that they had sought information to abduct and kill Joy, according to Joy’ testimony.

Joy later testified in a US court and learnt that Rizve was punished.

The prime minister’s son said the FBI advised him to be cautious and install CCTV cameras at his home. He later moved home for safety.

MAHMUDUR’S RETURN FROM EXILE

Mahmudur, a former advisor to BNP chief Khaleda Zia, was arrested on Apr 11, 2013 from the Amar Desh office in Karwan Bazar in a sedition case. In 2016, he was shown arrested in connection with the plot to kidnap Joy.

After three and a half years in jail, he was released on bail in November 2016. He then went to London. After five and a half years in exile, he returned to Bangladesh on Friday.

Shafik was arrested from his residence in April 2016 as well and shown arrested in the case over the plot to kidnap Joy. The editor was remanded and interrogated twice.

After five months in prison, he was released on bail at the order of the Supreme Court and later moved to the UK. He returned to Bangladesh on Aug 18 after the fall of the Awami League government.