Libel suit filed against Rangpur owner

Orion Sports Ltd, who own the BPL franchise Khulna Royal Franchise, have filed a Taka 100 crore ($12.6 million approx.) libel suit with a Dhaka court against I Sports Ltd, the owners of the Rangpur Riders. The case was filed following allegations of spot-fixing during the BPL game between the two sides on January 25.

Orion Sports Ltd chairman Mohammad Obaidul Karim filed the suit against Mostafa Raqiful Islam, the owner of the Rangpur franchise and director of I Sports Ltd, for making the derogatory statement against the Khulna team in a local newspaper, The Daily Manab Zamin, on January 26. He said the news was 'false, fabricated and concocted; it was fully malafide, defamatory and derogatory, and it caused a loss of Taka 100 crore to Orion Sports Ltd', according the Dhaka-based The Daily Star.

After the hearing, Judge Fazle Elahi Bhuiyan of the First Joint District Judge's Court of Dhaka issued a showcause notice asking the director of I Sports Ltd to explain within 25 days why Mustafa shall not be restrained by an order of temporary injunction from making, publishing and repeating such prejudicial statements against the plaintiff.