Staff Reporter :
Dhaka south city mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Tuesday said that former mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon’s remarks defamed him; but he asked the two plaintiffs to withdraw the defamation cases against Khokon.
“I think Khokon defamed me by making libellous comments. I will file case against him if needed,” he said replying to journalists at a press conference held at Nagar Bhaban marking Sakrain festival.
On Monday, two defamation cases were filed by two people against former Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sayeed Khokon on charge of making libellous comments against his successor and incumbent mayor Taposh.
Kazi Anisur Rahman and lawyer Sarwar Alam filed the cases with the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court hours after Taposh had declared that he would take legal action against Khokon for bringing graft allegations against him.
Judge Rajesh Chowdhury recorded the statements of the plaintiffs and set Tuesday for passing orders in the cases.
On Saturday, Khokon complained that Taposh had transferred hundreds of crores of takas of DSCC to its account at Modhumoti Bank as the bank was owned by Taposh, a former lawmaker and lawyer by profession.
In an immediate reaction over the defamation case, Khokon wanted to know the market value of the reputation of Taposh.
“Let me know the market value of Taposh’s reputation after getting the details of the case. I will face the case legally and the debt will be calculated on the street,” Khokon said in a press statement on Monday.
Khokon on Saturday said that Taposh had lost his eligibility to hold his post as mayor due to the irregularities over the transfer of the DSCC fund to his bank.
On December 8, DSCC started eviction drive against illegal shops after it had identified nearly 3,500 shops of 21 markets which were extended or built illegally and had been allocated to traders during the tenure of the immediate past mayor, Khokon.
Regarding the allegation of fund transfer, Taposh said that he did not do anything illegal; although he did not make it clear whether he had transferred the amount.
