Dhallywood actor Pori Moni was released from the Women’s Central Jail in Kashimpur, Gazipur on Wednesday morning, a day after she secured bail in a drugs case.
She was released in her lawyer Niranjana Shurovy’s custody, in presence of her uncle Jashim Uddin, around 9:20am, said the jail’s Superintendent Halima Khatun.
Pori Moni’s fans had crowded the jail gate to catch a glimpse of her walking out of prison after nearly a month. She left in a white SUV, waving at the fans through the sunroof. She did not speak to the journalists present at the scene.
“We came to take Pori Moni in line with the legal procedure,” Shurovy told reporters while entering the jail earlier in the day.
She added that the actor was not taken home on Tuesday as they could not reach Kashimpur prison within 5:30pm after completing the formalities.
On Tuesday, a Dhaka court granted Pori Moni bail upon a bond of Tk 50,000, several days after the High Court issued a rule asking the lower court to hold her bail hearing without further delay.
She will be out on bail in the case -- filed with Banani police under the Narcotics Control Act -- until the final probe report or the charge sheet is submitted in court.
Prior to Tuesday’s bail hearing, multiple bail pleas of the film star was quashed by lower courts following the police’s request. The actor also spent seven days in police custody and faced interrogation in three phases.
On August 22, Pori Moni’s lawyer Advocate Mozibur Rahman had filed the last bail petition.
The High Court’s order came after another Dhaka court had set September 13 to hear the plea, leading the defence team to move the High Court.
Case details
On August 4, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) had raided Pori Moni’s Banani home and detained her with bottles of liquor, yaba pills and LSD blots.
A minibar was found at Pori Moni’s residence where she regularly arranged parties, according to RAB.
In a nearly simultaneous raid, movie producer Nazrul Islam Raz and his manager Sabuj Ali were also arrested that day.
RAB said the raids were conducted based on information gleaned from Sharful Hasan alias Mishu Hasan and his accomplice Md Masudul Islam alias Jishan, both of whom were arrested the previous day on charges of carrying out illicit activities through DJ parties.
RAB claimed that Raz ran a ring that used to host DJ parties in upscale Dhaka neighbourhoods and supply drugs, using the parties as a cover.
RAB filed the drugs case against Pori Moni and her aide Dipu with Banani police on August 6.
Before getting embroiled in this case, the Dhallywood actor had hit the headlines in a major way back in June after levelling rape and murder attempt charges against several people.
On June 14, she filed a case against businessman Nasir U Mahmood and five others, accusing them of attempting to rape and murder her at Dhaka Boat Club on the night of June 8.
Following the filing of the case, law enforcers arrested Nasir, who later claimed that Pori Moni and her companions were in a drunken state on the night in question.
Police on August 14 submitted a charge sheet against Nasir and his associate Tuhin Siddique Omi in a drugs case.
