Barisal: Six policemen who were on duty on the court premises when UNO Gazi Tariq Salman was sent to jail in a defamation case were closed to the District Police Lines on Saturday.

Assistant Police Commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police Nasir Uddin Mallick said the six police personnel—sub-inspector Nripen Das, assistant sub-inspectors Sachin and Mahabub, and constables Jahangir, Selim and Sujan—were closed for administrative reasons.

On 19 July, a Barisal CMM court sent upazila nirbahi officer Salman to jail after he surrendered before it in compliance with its order and sought bail in a defamation case filed by a local Awami League leader on charge of publishing a ‘distorted’ photo of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the invitation card issued on the occasion of Independence Day.

Salman was granted bail on a bond of Tk 10,000, hours after he landed in jail.

As the incident sparked off huge public outcry throughout the country, Awami League suspended plaintiff Obaidullah Saju, religious affairs secretary of Barisal district unit of the party, on Friday for filing the Tk 5-crore defamation case over enthusiastically.