A court has granted a four-day remand for retired Major Khandaker Abdul Hafiz in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Cyber Security Act over allegations of conspiring against the state.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rakibul Hasan granted the remand on Sunday.

Hafiz was produced before the court in the afternoon, when the investigation officer in the case, Inspector Sheikh Bashir Ahmed of the Detective Branch’s Cyber and Special Crime (South) Division, sought a seven-day remand for questioning.

After the hearing, the court granted a four-day remand.

Earlier on Saturday night, the Detective Branch (DB) arrested Hafiz from the capital’s Banani area.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Debashish Kumar Barua and Lieutenant Gulshan Ara have also been arrested in the case accusing the trio of raising funds for the banned Awami League and inciting violence on social media.

According to the case statement, the accused allegedly operated from their respective residences while remaining connected to anti-government WhatsApp groups named ‘Bangladesh Awami League Supporters Alpha’ and ‘BBM Transparency’. They are accused of raising funds and creating digital content inciting violence for dissemination on various social media platforms.

The case statement further alleges that, through platforms named ‘Unity Care’ and ‘Public Parliament’, formed by retired army officers, they maintained contact with former army chief Aziz Ahmed, a former home minister and fugitive senior leaders of the Awami League, whose activities have been banned, and were involved in efforts to rehabilitate the party and in criminal conspiracies against the state.

They have also been accused of creating a Facebook page named ‘KalAajKal.com’ to publish content inciting violence and instability, and of using Facebook accounts to carry out activities against the state.