Editor who 'love-linked' Hina Rabbani Khar, Bilawal Bhutto arrested

A controversial editor of a Bangladeshi online magazine, who had created a stir by alleging a romantic link between PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto and Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, has been jailed on charges of money embezzlement.

"We arrested Salahuddin Shoeb Chowdhury two days ago and subsequently sent him to jail to face a charge of financial cheating in line with a court directive," Dhaka metropolitan police's deputy commissioner Masudur Rahman said.

Rahman said Chowdhury, who runs online Weekly Blitz, was arrested as a businessman named Sajjad Hossain filed a case accusing Shoaib of embezzling Taka 6.7 million.

In 2003, Chowdhury had been arrested when he was charged with spying for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad while Bangladesh does not have diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv.

The weekly two months ago created a stir when it claimed that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's 24-year-old son Bilawal was romantically linked to Khar. The report was dismissed as baseless though it went viral in social internet networks for several days.

Interestingly, the arrest of Chowdhury came a day before Khar's visit to Dhaka.

Khar, 34, on brief visit to Bangladesh today, called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and main opposition BNP chief and ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia, held talks with her counterpart Dipu Moni.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani High Commission spokesperson declined to make any comment on the arrest or confirm if there was any complaint against Chowdhury for the scandal but a Bangladeshi official, preferring anonymity said the police action came to prevent him from creating any more controversy during Khar's maiden visit to Bangladesh.

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