Mahiya Mahi secures bail after arrest under Digital Security Act

Film actor Mahiya Mahi secured bail and was subsequently released from jail on Saturday after being arrested in two cases filed on charges of "defaming police" and land grabbing.

She was arrested by the Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) on the same day at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after landing in Dhaka on a Biman flight from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah.

She was sent to jail by a Gazipur court after she was arrested under the Digital Security Act (DSA).

Gazipur Metropolitan Magistrate Iqbal Hossain passed the order when police produced her before the court seeking a seven-day remand in the case. The court, at the time, rejected the remand request.

Police earlier arrested nine others on Friday in connection with a land grabbing charge against her husband, Gazipur-based Awami League leader Rakib Sarkar, said GMP Commissioner Molla Nazrul Islam while addressing the press.

Rakib Sarkar did not return home with Mahi from Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Rokon Mia, sub-inspector of Bason police station, filed a case under DSA against Mahiya Mahi and her husband Rakib Sarkaron on Friday night on charges of defaming the police during a Facebook live session.

Meanwhile, Ismail Hossain, a businessman, filed the other case with Bason Police Station against 28 people including the couple on charges of assault, vandalism and forcibly occupying the land.

GMP Commissioner Molla Nazrul Islam said, "Mahiya Mahi made false comments on Facebook live about the Gazipur Metropolitan Police in the land-related incident. She has no right to express such comments against the police."

"Her husband Rakib also has three previous cases against him. No one testified in those cases. But the facts were true. But now there is an opportunity to re-investigate the cases. Besides, we are getting various complaints against him," he said.

According to the case statement, Mahiya Mahi, from her Facebook page, went live early Friday - making allegations against the police.

During the live session, she said Ismail Hossain and Mamun Sarkar, through their people, carried out an attack on a showroom, Sony Raj Car Palace, on the Dhaka-Tangail highway near Bhawal Badre Alam Government College.

The actress and her husband also alleged that the Gazipur Metropolitan Police commissioner "supported the attackers" after taking bribes.

She also said she feared getting arrested after returning to the country from Mecca. 

During the Facebook live, Mahiya's husband Rakib alleged that police arrested security guards of the car showroom.

Meanwhile, Ismail Hossain, owner of Rod Binding Factory in the Itahata area of Gazipur city, in his complaint said he has been running a factory in the area for the past ten years after purchasing land there.

On Friday, some people on behalf of Rakib and Mahiya attacked and vandalised the factory, he said. They also beat up five people at the factory, leaving them injured, while trying to occupy the land, according to the complaint.

Reactions in the entertainment industry

Meanwhile, the arrest of Mahiya Mahi sparked debates in the entertainment industry of the country, with several actors, directors, and producers, such as Shihab Shahin, Redwan Rony, and Ashfaque Nipun, taking to Facebook to express their views on the incident.

Nipun Akhtar, general secretary of the Bangladesh Film Artists Association, said, "We will not comment on the legal side of the incident. But we will certainly talk about the artist, individual Mahi. We demand her proper care as she is currently pregnant."