A case has been filed against Nasiruddin Patwary, chief coordinator of the National Citizen Party (NCP), on charges of intimidation and defamation of Prime Minister’s political adviser Mirza Abbas.
Md Ashraful Islam, president of BNP’s Ramna unit, lodged the case to the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Hasan Shahadat on Sunday. The court accepted the petition and summoned Patwary.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Md Amirul Islam Amir, confirmed the matter, saying the court recorded the plaintiff’s statement, took the case into cognizance, and issued a summons to Patwary.
According to the case, Patwary lost to Mirza Abbas by a large margin in the 13th parliamentary election in a Dhaka constituency. During the campaign, he allegedly made false and defamatory remarks. After his defeat, he intensified such statements, spreading them through social media and online news outlets, along with issuing threats.
Most recently, on March 5, the plaintiff saw defamatory comments by Patwary on Facebook, which were also carried by several online news outlets. One of the remarks described Mirza Abbas as “Bangladesh’s number one godfather in criminal ranking,” which the case claims was highly defamatory and damaging. These statements went viral on Facebook and YouTube, allegedly harming Abbas’s reputation.
The case further states that many people saw Patwary’s remarks, which were intended to tarnish the BNP leader’s image and political career. The comments are described as fabricated and defamatory.
The petition also urged the court to issue an arrest warrant against Patwary.
