A Dhaka court rejected the bail petition of Meghna Alam today in connection with an extortion case filed with Dhaka's Dhanmondi Police Station.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Masuma Rahman passed the order after Barrister Sadman Sakib submitted the bail petition on behalf of the Meghna, a model and chairperson of Miss Bangladesh Foundation.

In the petition, lawyer Sadman sought bail for his client on grounds that there is no specific allegation brought against Meghna.

She was implicated in the case filed for harassment, argued her lawyer, saying that as a woman, she should be granted bail.

However, the prosecution opposed the bail petition saying that the charges brought against her are found to be true. Therefore, her bail should be dismissed.

Upon hearing both the sides, the magistrate turned down the defence plea.

On April 17, Meghna was shown arrested in the case after the investigation officer of the case Md Akhtar Morshed, an inspector of the Detective Branch of Police, submitted an application. On April 15, police filed the case against Meghna, Dewan Samir and two others.

According to the case statement, Meghna and Samir, along with two to three unidentified others, are allegedly active members of an "organised fraud ring".

They reportedly used "attractive" women to lure foreign diplomats and representatives of foreign missions in Bangladesh, as well as local businessmen, into romantic and illicit relationships, and then applied various tactics to extort money by threatening to tarnish their reputation, the case statement said.

Samir is the CEO of a business organisation named KAWAII Group and owner of a manpower firm named Sanjana International. He also previously owned a company called MIRI International Event Management Ltd.

As part of a scheme to gain access to foreign diplomats and businessmen, Samir allegedly appointed "attractive and smart" women as brand ambassadors, including Meghna, in his companies to use them to blackmail envoys and extract large sums of money, the case statement said.

Meghna was picked up from her residence in Bashundhara Residential Area in Dhaka on April 9.

On April 10, another Dhaka court ordered Meghna to be kept in jail for 30 days under the Special Powers Act. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Sefatullah issued the order following an application by the Detective Branch (DB).

On April 13, the High Court issued a rule asking relevant government authorities to explain in two weeks why Meghna's arrest under the Special Powers Act, 1974 should not be declared illegal.