A wave of controversy has struck Bangladesh’s entertainment industry as 17 prominent actors and cultural figures — including Apu Biswas, Nusrat Faria, Zayed Khan, and Meher Afroz Shaon — have been named in an attempted murder case. The news has sent shockwaves through the media, not for a film release, but due to their alleged involvement in what many are calling a “false and harassing lawsuit.”
According to police, the case relates to an incident during the anti-discrimination movement in Dhaka’s Bhatara area in 2024. The complaint was filed by a man named Enamul Haque, who has also accused 283 people tied to the previous government, including former Prime Minister and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, along with several hundred unnamed individuals.
Actress Nusrat Faria has been accused in the case of allegedly financing the pro-government opposition to the movement. Other well-known names listed as defendants include Suborna Mustafa, Ashna Habib Bhabna, Sohana Saba, Jyotika Jyoti, Simon Sadiq, and Azizul Hakim.
Bhatara Police Station Officer-in-Charge Majhurul Islam confirmed that the case has been received for investigation from the court and that legal procedures are ongoing.
This is the latest in a series of cases targeting public figures in Bangladesh’s cultural scene. Many believe such lawsuits are part of a pattern of harassment, sparking outcry over the politicization of the arts and growing instability within the country’s creative sector.
