Dhaka– Bangladeshi actress Nusraat Faria, who famously portrayed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a high-profile biopic, has been sent to jail in connection with an attempted murder case involving Enamul Haque, according to local media reports on Monday.
Faria was detained by authorities at Dhaka airport on Sunday while en route to Thailand. She was subsequently arrested in connection with a case linked to the July 2024 protest movement.
On Monday, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Nasrin Akter ordered that Faria be remanded to judicial custody.
Lieutenant General (Retd.) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Home Affairs Advisor to the government, confirmed that legal proceedings are ongoing and that the investigation is still in progress. He emphasized that the government remains committed to justice.
“Steps will be taken to ensure that only those guilty of wrongdoing are held accountable, and that no innocent individual is punished under any circumstances,” Chowdhury said.
The case stems from a July 2024 protest in the Vatara area, during which Enamul Haque sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and was hospitalized in critical condition. After his recovery, he filed a formal complaint on May 3, 2025.
The case lists 283 individuals as accused, including former Prime Minister Hasina and 17 members of the arts community. Faria is the 207th named in the filing and is described as a “financial supporter” of the Awami League.
Faria rose to national prominence for her role as Sheikh Hasina in Mujib: The Making of a Nation, a 2023 biographical epic about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, directed by acclaimed Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
Bangladesh’s Cultural Affairs Advisor Sarwar Farooki called Faria’s arrest “an embarrassing episode” for the interim government, expressing his dismay in a social media post on Monday.
“Following the public backlash over former President Abdul Hamid’s foreign trip, there may have been an overreaction driven by nervousness. We saw a similar incident recently involving the wife of Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho. These actions are indefensible. I believe Nusraat Faria will receive legal redress,” Farooki wrote.
He added: “The government’s duty is to bring the actual perpetrators of the July Uprising to justice. Our official position has been clear: no one should be arrested in sweeping, indiscriminate cases without preliminary evidence. That principle must be upheld.”
Prominent members of the Bangladesh Cholochitro Shilpi Samiti (the national film artists’ association), including Ashfaque Nipun, Azmeri Haque Badhon, Khairul Basar, Sharaf Ahmed Jibon, and Tabib Mahmud, strongly condemned the arrest. They described the Yunus administration as “fascist” and called the move unacceptable.
The incident has also drawn international criticism.
“It now appears that simply being associated with the Awami League—or merely being a public supporter—is enough to make one a target,” said British journalist David Bergman. “We’ve reached a point where known political sympathies can put someone at serious risk of arbitrary arrest on baseless charges.”
Bergman continued: “The interim government seems to be grappling with its moral and political direction. Civil society has turned a blind eye to due process and fairness, replacing it with vengeance and score-settling. There’s no significant political force left to defend basic human rights.”
He concluded by warning that Bangladesh has reached a “dangerous threshold” in just nine months under the current regime. (Source: IANS)
