ATN Bangla Chairman Mahfuzur Rahman yesterday withdrew the case he had filed against 10 journalist leaders for making and publishing derogatory statements involving him in the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.

In his petition seeking permission for the case's withdrawal, Mahfuzur Rahman said he no longer had allegations against whom he had earlier sued, and he was not willing to proceed with the case.

Judge Fazle Elahi Bhuiyan of the First Joint District Judge's Court of Dhaka accepted the petition.

On September 10, Mahfuzur Rahman sued 59 journalist leaders who planned demonstrations to protest against his alleged involvement in the journalist couple murder. He however had dropped names of 49 leaders the next day.

Accused in the case included Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ); Abdul Jalil Bhuyian, secretary general of the BFUJ; Ruhul Amin Gazi, president of a faction of the BFUJ, and Shakhawat Hossain Badsha, president of Dhaka Reporters Unity.