A Dhaka court on Monday placed two retired army officers on four days’ remand over allegations of conspiring against the government, inciting violence, illegal financing and spreading propaganda on social media.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Didarul Alam passed the order after Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, an inspector of the Detective Branch’s (DB) Cyber and Special Crime Division and the investigation officer in the case, sought seven days’ remand for retired Lieutenant Colonel Debashish, 47, and retired Lieutenant Kazi Gulshan Ara, 43, for interrogation.
Defence lawyer Abdullah Al Mansur Ripon opposed the remand pleas and sought bail for the accused. State prosecutor Harun Or Rashid, however, argued in favour of remand and urged the court to grant the applications.
After hearing both sides, the court rejected their bail pleas and granted four days’ remand for each accused.
Earlier on Monday, a DB team arrested Debashish and Gulshan Ara in separate raids in the capital’s Pallabi and Banani DOHS areas over their alleged links to the Awami League, which is currently under an interim ban. The arrests were made in connection with cases filed under charges of sedition and offences under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Cyber Security Act.
In the remand petition, the investigation officer alleged that the accused had been creating and disseminating anti-state and violence-inciting digital content through WhatsApp groups named “Bangladesh Awami League Supporters Alpha # 1” and “BBM Transparency” from a residence in Pallabi.
Police also alleged that the two maintained contact with former army chief General (retd) Aziz Ahmed, a former home minister and several fugitive senior leaders through platforms named “Unity Care” and “Public Parliament”.
According to the police, they used a Facebook page named “KalAajKal.com” in an attempt to create instability in the country and maintained contact with domestic and foreign intelligence agencies.
The remand petition further stated that the accused had expressed allegiance to then prime minister Sheikh Hasina at a roundtable meeting in 2018 and formed a 101-member committee named “Bangabandhu Sena Parishad”.
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