'My relationship with Iqra was very good', Alvir claims in court

The court has allowed the two-day remand of actor Zaher Alvi, who was arrested in the case of abetment to suicide of his wife Iqra. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Albiruni Mir gave this order after hearing both sides on Wednesday.

Earlier, the investigation officer of the case, Inspector Abdul Malek of Mirpur Zonal Team of DB Police, applied for a 10-day remand of Alvi. The court had fixed June 21 for the hearing.

During the hearing today, Zaher Alvi presented his statement with the permission of the court. He said, ‘I do not want bail to return to work (acting). My child has lost his mother, he needs support now. I am in a situation where I do not know whether to mourn or maintain the procedure of the case. There are minor disagreements in the family. Iqra and Iqra’s relationship was very smooth (good). Nothing like suicide happened. I work in the media, here I have well-wishers, as well as haters. They have spread false propaganda with an AI-generated mehendi picture. The real mehendi picture is with my lawyer.’

Alvi also spoke about the allegations of celebrating a birthday in Nepal with actress Iffat Ara Tithi. He said, ‘I went to Nepal with the heroine. However, I went with the production to shoot 6 dramas; this is my job. Everyone from the production was there, not just Tithi.’

In the hearing, state lawyer Harun Or Rashid argued in favor of remand. On the other hand, defense lawyer Barrister Rubayet applied for the remand to be canceled, saying, ‘There should be no media trial in this case. Justice is more important than punishing him (Alvi) here. He also said, "He came to the country and surrendered to the court showing respect for the law." At that time, the judge commented, "The High Court asked him to surrender."

At one stage of the hearing, the issue of an affidavit given by Iqra was also brought before the court.

The defendants claimed that in the affidavit, Iqra had mentioned that her family had forcibly arranged her marriage elsewhere. Later, another lawyer for Alvi's side requested interrogation at the jail gate instead of remand. However, the court rejected it and granted a two-day remand.

In the remand application, the investigating officer mentioned that Alvi used to post various insulting and provocative posts on social media targeting Iqra. In addition, it is alleged that he had also made provocative comments by publishing a picture with another woman while he was married. The application stated that remand is necessary to unravel the real mystery of the case, identify and arrest the absconding accused, and collect other information.

It is worth noting that on March 1, the body of actor Zaher Alvi's wife Iqra was recovered from a house in Mirpur in the capital. When family members took her to Kurmitola General Hospital, the doctor declared her dead.

On the night of the incident, Iqra's maternal uncle Sheikh Tanvir Ahmed filed a case on charges of abetment to suicide. Along with Zaher Alvi, his mother Nasrin Sultana Shiuli has also been named as an accused in the case. It has been alleged in the case that Iqra was forced to commit suicide due to long-standing family feud and mental torture.

However, Zaher Alvi has been denying the allegations and has been claiming his innocence from the beginning. As the investigation into the case is ongoing, the attention of those concerned is now on the progress of the investigation.