Can the state return my lost honour?: Pori Moni breaks silence

Actor Pori Moni has publicly challenged the state to answer for her 2021 arrest, calling the RAB raid on her Banani residence "completely illegal" and questioning whether her lost dignity can ever be restored, in a lengthy Facebook post that broke years of relative public silence on the episode.

In the post, published late Friday night on her verified Facebook page, the actress said she was arrested on August 4, 2021, in a "false and fabricated" case filed to serve "vested interests," rather than for any actual wrongdoing.

Pori Moni said she was placed on a seven-day remand following her arrest and subsequently held in jail for nearly 20 days, an experience she described as leaving lasting scars on her personal, social and professional life.

"The court may eventually acquit me of this contrived case. But can my lost dignity, my peace of mind, and that stretch of my life ever be given back? Will the state take responsibility for the misleading perception it created about me in people's minds?" she wrote.

She opened the post by thanking former RAB intelligence chief Lieutenant Colonel Khairul Islam, saying he had acknowledged in a recent online talk show that her arrest was carried out unjustly on the orders of the then-RAB chief.

Pori Moni was careful to frame her comments as a call for justice rather than revenge. "I don't want to speak of grievance or retaliation. I only want to speak for truth, justice and humanity. My hope is that no innocent person has to go through something like this again," she wrote.

She also thanked family, friends, colleagues, journalists and fans who stood by her through the ordeal, saying she wants to move forward focused on her work, her child, her family and the love of her audience, leaving the past behind.

RAB raided Pori Moni's Banani home on the night of August 4, 2021, and arrested her. She was subsequently charged the following day under the Narcotics Control Act at Banani police station, with RAB's seizure list claiming alcohol and various narcotics were recovered from her residence.

She was placed on remand in three separate phases, a development that drew widespread public attention at the time. She was released on bail on September 1, 2021, after nearly 20 days in jail. The case remains pending before the court.