A Dhaka metropolitan magistrate's court yesterday sent Supreme Court (SC) lawyer and writer Imtiaz Mahmud to jail in a case filed under the Information and Communications Technology Act with Khagrachari Sadar police station.

According to the case details, the case was filed in 2017 with Khagrachhari Sadar police station under the ICT Act. Metropolitan magistrate Satyabrata Shikder sent Imtiaz to jail after hearing the bail plea filed by the defence lawyer.

BM Forman Ali, OC of Banani police station, said somebody called Shafikul Islam had filed a case against Imtiaz with Khagrachari police station on July 17, 2017, for spreading ‘communal provocation’ on social media.

Meanwhile, a Barishal court yesterday rejected the bail prayer of eminent poet, columnist and journalist Henry Swapan, who was arrested on Tuesday in a case filed under the Digital Security Act, adds Our Correspondent, from Barishal.

Obaidullah Saju, president of the District Bar Association, moved the bail plea in favour of Henry in the court of metropolitan magistrate Shamim Ahmed. He told reporters that the court had rejected the bail plea as it was beyond the court’s jurisdiction.

Earlier, Henry was arrested by Barishal Kotwali police for a Facebook post ‘against a programme at a local Catholic church' and was sent to jail on Tuesday. Henry was arrested from his house in the Goal Pukur Christian community area.

Barishal metropolitan police commissioner Shahabuddin Khan said that the Father of the local Catholic Church had filed a complaint against Henry for hurting religious sentiments of Christians and even Muslim communities through social media. “After a primary investigation, the case was accepted and the accused was arrested under the ICT Act”, he added.

Police said Reverend Lackbali Gomes, Father of a local Catholic church, had filed the case (No. 48) under Sections 28, 29 and 31 of the Digital Security Act against three accused, including Henry.

Following the complaint, the police arrested hHenry and a hunt was launched to arrest two other accused in the case, he added.

,Before being arrested, Henry Swapan told journalists that in a Facebook post he had condemned the cultural function on Easter Sunday at the local Catholic church while many people were killed by terrorists in church and hotels in Sri Lanka on the same day. After that some people from the Christian community got annoyed and lodged a complaint with the police commissioner, he added.

Henry also said some miscreants threatened to kill him and asked him to leave Barishal immediately. “I tried to lodge a general diary with Kotwali police station, but the police didn’t register it,”he added.