Ruling BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu filed the cases with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka on Thursday against the four and Janakantha Advisory Editor Toab Khan for publishing reports linking the lawmaker and his family members with the killing of Jubo Dal leader Sagir Ahmed.

Metropolitan Magistrate AJM Abdullahel Baki issued the bail order upon a bond of Tk 1,000 with two guarantors when the four appeared before the court at 12:30pm.

Metropolitan Magistrate AJM Abdullahel Baki issued bailable warrants for the arrest of Prothom Alo Editor Motiur Rahman and Janakantha Editor and Publisher Mohammad Atiq Ullah Khan Masud. Besides, he summoned Prothom Alo Publisher Mahfuz Anam and Janakantha Advisory Editor Toab Khan and Executive Editor Borhan Ahmed to appear before the court.

Pintu in the cases alleged that the reports were published to vilify him socially and politically.

Moving the bail petitions, the defence told the court that the reports published in the two national dailies on different dates were based on factual evidence.

Besides, some other newspapers ran similar reports on Sagir murder and Pintu and his family members' suspected link to it for several days. But the lawmaker singled out the two newspapers and filed the cases against the five only to harass them, the lawyers contended.

The editors and their colleagues have always played a great role in nation building. But their reputation in the society has been damaged due to the cases filed against them, the lawyers added.

The court also granted bail to Prothom Alo Editor Motiur Rahman and Publisher Mahfuz Anam in another defamation case filed by Shahadat Ullah Tutul, president of Dhaka City Chhatra Shibir (South) last year.

Additional police were deployed on the court premises yesterday to avoid any untoward incident.

Advocates Syed Rezaur Rahman, Sahara Khatun, Shahjahan Khan, M Sajwar Hossain, Abdulla Abu, Sayed Ahmed Gazi, Ashraf-Ul-Alam, Samiul Karim Alamgir, Shahidullah Miah and Chaitanya Chandra Halder moved the bail petitions.