BNP leader fined for filing 'fake case'

A local BNP leader in Rajshahi who filed a case alleging that he was beaten while trying to vote on election day despite being in jail at the time has been fined Tk 100,000 for filing a false case. Rajshahi Metropolitan Magistrate Court-3 Judge Mohammad Saddam Hossain delivered the verdict on Sunday, April 12.

The convicted plaintiff, Sazzad Hossain, 46, is the organisational secretary of Haripur union BNP in Paba upazila and president of ward 8. He had filed the case at Damkura Police Station in Rajshahi metropolis on August 23, 2024, after the mass uprising.

The case named Haripur Union Parishad Chairman Bojle Rezvi Al Hasan Munzil, Union Awami League President and UP member Saidur Rahman, and 13 other leaders and activists of the party as accused.

In the complaint, the plaintiff alleged that when he went to the Kasba High School centre to vote on December 30, 2018, the day of the 11th National Parliamentary Election, the accused obstructed him. When he tried to enter, the UP chairman allegedly showed a pistol and threatened to shoot him, while others chased him. At one point, several accused fired shots from a pistol and beat him with bamboo sticks, sickles and axes, leaving him bloodied. Local residents later rescued him.

However, it was proven in court that the plaintiff, Sazzad Hossain, was imprisoned in Rajshahi Central Jail on that day. The case details were therefore unquestionably proven false.

Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Court Inspector Abdur Rauf said two accused had been arrested and served time in prison due to the false case. The Tk 100,000 fine will be distributed to them, Tk 50,000 each. If the fine is not paid and the bank deposit slip submitted to court within seven days, the plaintiff will have to serve one month in jail.