bdnews24.com :A judicial committee has started investigating the public humiliation and assault of Naraynganj schoolteacher Shyamal Kanti Bhakta for alleged blasphemy.Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sheikh Hafizur Rahman got down to business last Wednesday, High Court’s Additional Registrar Sabbir Foyez told bdnews24.com on Sunday. “Letters seeking copies of reports have been sent to several newspapers and TV stations,” he said. Foyez also said the magistrate would visit Narayanganj soon. The letters to the media asked for submission of the reports on the incident within seven working days. The High Court ordered the judicial investigation on Aug 10, saying police have failed to identify the real culprits. Magistrate Sheikh Hafiz is to submit the investigation report within Nov 3. The court said it would issue an order on Nov 6. A police report submitted to the High Court found local MP AKM Salim Osman ‘innocent’ amid a nationwide outcry demanding his punishment for humiliating the teacher on charges that he had made disparaging remarks about Islam. A video of the May incident showed the Jatiya Party MP making Shyamal Kanti Bhakta, the headmaster of Piyar Sattar Latif High School in Bandar Upazila, squat up and down holding his ears. But police said that he was ‘only a victim of circumstances’.The police investigator told the court three days ago that he could not start legal proceedings against anyone because no allegation had been brought against anyone regarding the incident.Salim Osman has faced intense public outrage since the video had gone viral on the social media.The High Court in a rule earlier had asked why legal measures should not be taken against Salim and others who had publicly humiliated the teacher. The court also asked the local authorities in the district to submit a report on lawful measures taken. The reports submitted by the district’s deputy commissioner (DC), superintendent of police (SP) and Bandar Police Station OC on May 29, however, failed to satisfy the High Court, which termed the reports ‘carelessly made’. The DC filed the report again on June 8.
