In a legal notice sent through her attorney, Farhat Q Chowdhury, wife of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, has termed a part of a Daily Star report published on September 10, 2011 as “false”, “defamatory” and “intended to degrade the reputation” of SQ Chowdhury.

The Daily Star report was concerning arrest of a top criminal named Bidhan Barua from Feni by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab).

The notice dated September 27, 2011 quoted the last paragraph of our September 10 report — “Bidhan was a former cadre of now defunct National Democratic Party and a close aide to detained BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury” — and termed the portion as not true.

The legal notice claimed that the BNP leader has no communication with Bidhan and he (Bidhan) never worked under the supervision of SQ Chowdhury.

“Our client demands the source of such information and apprehends that this news is intentionally published to isolate Mr Chowdhury as a part of the conspiracy to degrade him and to torture him mentally,” the notice signed by Farhat Q Chowdhury’s lawyer Barrister SM Atikur Rahaman said.

OUR REPLY

The Daily Star carried a report on September 10 after Rab arrested one of Chittagong’s top criminals Bidhan from Feni.

We quoted Rab sources to depict the criminal past of Bidhan and his political links as did other major national and regional dailies.

After Bidhan’s capture, police and Rab sources told all media present about his involvement with Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

Moreover, in response to queries by pressmen at Rab-7 office in Chittagong, Bidhan himself admitted to the media people about his links with the BNP leader. The Daily Star is in possession of audio clips of Bidhan’s admission.

Therefore, there is no question of “defaming” Salauddin Quader Chowdhury. We reported what Bidhan himself said and which was later corroborated by Rab and police sources.

Keywords/Tags: Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, সালাহউদ্দিন কাদের (সাকা) চৌধুরী