A defamation case was filed against Dhaka University Professor Asif Nazrul with a Madaripur court on Thursday for an alleged Facebook post, which the teacher vehemently denied.

Faruk Khan, a cousin of Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan and also a member of Madaripur Zila Parishad, filed the case alleging that the law teacher willingly tarnished the image of the minister socially and politically with the Facebook post.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Jakir Hossian of the district asked Prof Asif Nazrul to appear before the court in the next hearing scheduled on December 14, reports our Madaripur correspondent.  

In another move on Thursday, the minister's nephew Syed Asaduzzaman Minar filed a complaint with Madaripur Sadar Police Station against Prof Asif Nazrul under section 57 of the information and communi-cation technology (ICT) act for the same post over alleged irregularities in recruitment at Chittagong Port.

The complaint is pending for approval with the Police Headquarters. Police need the approval to register a case under the section, Quamrul Hasan, officer-in-charge of the police station, told The Daily Star.

Asif Nazrul, a teacher of law department, said he was falsely implicated for a post that was uploaded by a fake Facebook page named after him.

 “I did not upload any post against or about the minister. There are some fake pages named after me and on a number of occasions, I cautioned all about those fake pages by posing status at my own Facebook account and at the fan page I myself administer,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

 “Yet, filing of a defamation case and a complaint under section 57 of the ICT act against me is very unfortunate and it shows how unjustly innocent persons could be harassed through exploitation of the legal system of the country," he added.

The DU teacher urged the authorities concerned to verify the authenticity of the Facebook page from where the post was uploaded before deciding on the question of approval of the case under section 57.