Actor Zaher Alvi on two-day remand in Ikra death case

A court has granted a two-day remand for questioning television actor Md. Niamat Ullah Bhuiyan, popularly known as Zaher Alvi, in a case filed over the alleged abetment of his wife Afra Ibnat Ikra’s suicide.

On Wednesday (June 24), Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Albiruni Mir issued the order after a hearing. Earlier, on June 21, the case's investigating officer, Inspector Abdul Malek of the Detective Branch (DB) Police's Mirpur Zonal Team, had sought a 10-day remand for the accused. On that day, the court scheduled the remand hearing for Wednesday in the presence of the accused.

The remand order was confirmed by Advocate Harunur Rashid, Assistant Public Prosecutor of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court.

Earlier, on June 18, Alvi surrendered before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin and applied for bail through his lawyers. After the hearing, the court rejected the bail petition and ordered that he be sent to jail.

A large legal team, including Dhaka Bar Association President Anwar Zahid Bhuiyan, represented Alvi during the bail hearing. Lawyers for the complainant opposed the bail request and sought his detention in jail.

According to Alvi’s bail petition, he had no involvement in the incident. The petition claimed that because the marriage was a love marriage, the complainant filed the case out of personal resentment and revenge. It further argued that the First Information Report (FIR) contained no specific allegations against him. The petition also stated that the case was filed while Alvi was in Nepal on February 25 for the production of a drama project ahead of Eid.

According to the case statement, on February 28, family members found Ikra hanging from a ceiling fan with an orna (scarf) at their residence in Mirpur DOHS. She was taken to Kurmitola General Hospital by relatives and the building owner, where doctors declared her dead.

Later that night, Ikra’s father, Kabir Hayat Khan, filed the case. He alleged that Ikra had been compelled to take her own life due to long-standing family disputes and various forms of abuse.

Alvi and Ikra were married in 2010 and have a son together. In the same case, Alvi’s mother, Nasrin Sultana Shyuli, surrendered before the court on June 4 and was granted bail.