Sifat sent to jail under Anti-Terrorism Act

A court has sent college student Sifat Abdullah to jail after police filed a case against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act over a Facebook video in which he criticised the BNP government and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman over electricity bills.

Sifat was produced before the Gazipur Metropolitan Court on Friday, which ordered that he be sent to jail.

Golam Rabbani, officer-in-charge of Gacha police station, had earlier said Sifat was sent to court after the case was filed, alleging that he was “trying to organise a flash procession with the fascist forces.”

Police detained Sifat from the Gacha area at around 8:30pm on Thursday and took him to the police station around 9pm.

Sifat, a resident of the Tin-er Masjid area in Ward 38 of Gazipur city, is a student of Adamjee Cantonment College in Dhaka.

The case followed a Facebook video posted by Sifat in which he complained about what he described as unusually high electricity bills. He claimed his household had been charged 4,000 taka for the current month and 5,000 taka the previous month. He also allegedly used abusive language while criticising the government and the prime minister.

The video subsequently went viral on social media, following which police arrested him.

Earlier, Gacha police said Sifat had been arrested over allegations of making derogatory remarks about the prime minister and the government.

Abdul Awal, investigation officer of Gacha police station, told Daily Waadaa that Sifat was detained over the allegations and was later sent to jail through the court after the Anti-Terrorism Act case was filed.