Dhaka: A flamboyant ruling party MP in Bangladesh was on Thursday sent to jail for beating up two journalists of a private television channel five days ago.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate SM Ashiqur Rahman turned down the bail plea of Golam Maula Rony and ordered authorities to send the lawmaker to jail. Rony, 40, was produced before the court under heavy security escorts after his overnight detention at police’s detective branch custody following his arrest.
Rony is the first MP of the ruling party Awami League to be arrested during the present government’s tenure. Video footage of Rony assaulting TV reporters has gone viral on social media, embarrassing the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina before general elections next year. The embattled lawmaker sparked a massive media uproar and protests by attacking a reporter and a cameraman of private television channel ‘Independent’ on Saturday for “interfering in his privacy” at his private office. The TV channel, however, said the journalists wanted to interview him as part of an investigative report following a tip that he would receive a cash bribe. A lawmaker from a southern coastal district, Rony is a newcomer to politics and has been a regular feature in television talk-shows. He stoked controversy by making critical comments even against his own party leaders alongside his smart gestures. The lawmaker apparently could rally no support from his party after the incident as party general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said people like him should not be in politics and the law would take its own course. Ahead of his arrest, Rony posted a status in his Facebook account alleging he was victimised for his vocal stand against corruption and particularly against the financial corruptions of the influential owner of the Independent TV and feared some leaders of the government too have stake in it. (PTI)
