MP Gazi Nazrul placed on fresh four-day remand

A Dhaka court on Thursday placed Satkhira-4 lawmaker and expelled Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Gazi Nazrul Islam on a fresh four-day remand in a case filed over the death of his second wife Mariam.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ripon Hossain passed the order after a hearing on a petition seeking seven days’ fresh remand, said State Prosecutor Hasnur Or Rashid.

Earlier in the day, Detective Branch Inspector Mohammad Salahuddin, also the investigating officer in the case, produced Gazi Nazrul before the court and sought the fresh remand for interrogation.

During the hearing, State Prosecutor Harun-Or-Rashid sought the remand, while defence lawyers, including Mahbubur Rahman, opposed it and sought cancellation of the remand and bail for the accused.

On 21 September, Nazrul was placed on a four-day remand in the case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station under Section 306 of the Penal Code. His first wife, Maksuda Islam, was also placed on a one-day remand on the same day and later sent to jail.

According to the remand plea, Nazrul reportedly told investigators during interrogation that Mariam was emotional and had taken her own life following family-related problems.

Police, however, said further interrogation of Nazrul was necessary to uncover the “main mystery” of the case. They said it was a sensational case and the accused needed to be questioned in greater detail to conduct a proper investigation and establish the facts.

The body of Mariam, 19, was recovered hanging from the ceiling of a flat on the second floor of NAM Bhaban, a residential complex for lawmakers in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, on the evening of 20 September.

Later that night, Mariam’s father, Masum Billah, filed a case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, accusing Gazi Nazrul and his first wife of abetting his daughter’s suicide. Mariam’s maternal uncle Obaidur Rahman, who previously worked as Gazi Nazrul’s driver, was also named as an accused.

The death came two months after a video allegedly showing Gazi Nazrul in an intimate moment with a woman, later identified as Mariam, went viral on social media on 20 July.

Following the incident, Jamaat-e-Islami expelled Gazi Nazrul on 22 July and requested the Speaker and the Election Commission to take necessary steps against him.