Arrest warrant issued against Shaon in case filed by stepmother

An arrest warrant has been issued against actress, filmmaker, and singer Meher Afroz Shaon in a case filed by her stepmother.

Arrest warrants have also been issued against nine others, including the former chief of the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Harunor Rashid, in the same case.

The warrants were issued on Tuesday by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanaullah, according to the court’s bench assistant Md Parvez.

On Mar 13, Shaon’s stepmother Nishi Islam filed the case with the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, accusing 12 people of attempted murder and assault.

The court had previously summoned the accused before it on Apr 22.

Along with Shaon, her father, sister, and several police officers were named in the case.

Among them, Inspector Saiful Islam Bhuiyan and Sub-Inspector Shah Alam appeared in court on Tuesday and applied for bail, which the court granted.

Arrest warrants were issued against the remaining 10 as they failed to appear in Court.

According to Nishi’s complaint, on Feb 21, 2024, Shaon’s father Mohammad Ali married her with a dower of Tk 5 million.

Later, she discovered that her husband had a previous marriage, with a son and three daughters from that relationship.

The complaint further alleged that on Feb 28 of that year, Shaon’s sister Shinjon and her husband Sabbir visited Nishi’s home and “threatened” her to keep the marriage a secret.

On Mar 4, Mohammad Ali asked her to come to their Gulshan residence, saying he was unwell. Once she arrived, the other accused allegedly forcefully threw her out of the house.

The next day, Shaon and Additional Deputy Commissioner Nazmul, along with others, allegedly went to Nishi’s house and attempted to force her to sign on a blank sheet of paper.

When she refused, Shaon allegedly beat her severely, causing her to lose consciousness, after which the accused led.

Nishi further alleged that on Apr 24 last year, DB Inspector Shah Jalal summoned her to his office, where Shaon and others assaulted her again.

During the incident, then DB chief Harun reportedly instructed the Badda Police Station chief to file a case against her. She was then framed as a drug dealer, arrested, and tortured in remand.

Earlier, on Feb 6, Shaon was arrested by the DB in Dhaka's Dhanmondi.

News of her arrest came shortly after her ancestral home in Jamalpur was set on fire during a nation-wide vandalism spree on Awami League activists’ properties.

Shaon was detained and interrogated on suspicion of involvement in an “anti-state conspiracy”. She was released the following day.