A division bench comprising Justices M Abdur Rashid and M Fazlur Rahman granted ad interim bail upon petitions filed by the journalists and also asked the government to explain why the petitioners should not be granted regular bail.

Those enlarged on bail are Gazi Mahbub Rahman, editor of local daily Ajker Alo, and its acting editor Jamaluddin Haidery, Tariqul Huq Tariq, correspondent of daily Prothom Alo, Shamsul Alam, correspondent of Ajker Kagoj, and Hassan Zahid, staff correspondent of Manavzamin.

The petitioners submitted that they were 'falsely' implicated in the extortion cases.

"The complainants lodged the false cases against us on advice of their mentor Shahidul Islam MP (Kushtia-2 constituency) of the ruling BNP following a report published in the local and national dailies on the recent acts of vandalism by the cadres of the lawmaker," the petitioners submitted.