Another Attempt to Revive Militant Branding!

• Fugitive Police Officers Monirul and Harun’s Agenda in Action:
• 11 of 23 Detained from Tejgaon Mosque Released on Bond, Rest Sent to Three Day Remand

A familiar pattern of militant arrest drama appears to have started again, the reporter states. Mr. Monirul Islam, a police officer who fled to India, stayed quiet for a long time and has now suddenly become active on social media.

He has been giving frequent interviews on Ms. Nabanita Roy Chowdhury’s YouTube channel, the report says. In these interviews he claims that militants have become active in Bangladesh. The core message of this controversial former police officer’s statements is that militants will become active in Bangladesh before December, with the goal of branding Bangladesh internationally as a country experiencing a militant resurgence.

The report alleges that after Mr. Monirul’s remarks tarnished the police administration, his associates who remain in the force are now trying to prove his claims true. It states that officers arrest anyone with a beard and a cap and publicize the arrest widely as the capture of a banned militant, even though these individuals later turn out not to be militants at all.

Of the 23 people detained, the report notes, officers released 11 on bond into their families’ custody after questioning, while they filed cases against the remaining 12 under anti-terrorism law and showed them as arrested. The writer asks what lies behind the practice of tagging people as militants, and asks whether members of the law enforcement agencies are carrying out the agenda of the fascist Awami League and of Mr. Monirul and DB Harun.

Six months after the new government took office, the report states, the country’s law and order situation has not brought the expected relief. Cases of murder, violence against women and children, and attacks on police have increased. An analysis of case data across seven categories nationwide shows 21,756 cases filed over the six months from February to July this year, compared with 21,228 cases in the same seven categories during the previous six months, from August last year to January this year, an increase of 528 cases.

The report cites a recent statement from an officer in charge at Cantonment police station as sending a clear signal: that although these officers hold government jobs, they still look toward the day fascist Hasina returns to the country. It recalls that during fascist Hasina’s rule, authorities killed innocent people for years under the pretext of militant arrests, and that this drama had stopped for a long time until Mr. Monirul Islam’s recent statements, which the report suggests are reviving it.

The report then describes the mosque incident directly. Last Friday afternoon, members of the law enforcement agencies detained people from Tejgaon College Mosque in the Farmgate area of Dhaka. A young man named Mr. Shihab Uddin shouted that they did not know each other before gathering that day, that he did not even know the person standing next to him, that they belonged to no banned organization or similar platform, and that they were discussing business matters inside the mosque.

Police present at the scene ignored these protests, the report states, and detained 23 people as suspects, taking them to Tejgaon police station, picking out anyone wearing a cap. That night, after screening, police released 11 of them on bond. They took the remaining 12 to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit on Minto Road. Officers then showed these 12 as arrested under an anti-terrorism law case and sent them to court on Saturday, bringing them into three days of police remand for questioning.

Following Friday’s arrests of young men picked out for their beards and caps, the report notes, social media has seen extensive discussion and criticism. Many commenters say police are now tagging innocent people as militants just as they did under the fascist Awami League government, and see a deep conspiracy behind it. Many are searching for the mystery behind this sudden effort to confuse the public with militancy suspicions, arguing that the current law and order situation is very fragile and that law enforcement has started this drama amid its own severe failures.

A businessman who wished to remain unnamed told the paper that Mr. Monirul Islam, the most powerful police officer of the fascist era who fled abroad, suddenly appeared on social media some time ago and made various statements. Following this, discussion turned to Mr. Monirul Islam and his fellow police officers Mr. Harun, Mr. Habib, and Mr. Asaduzzaman. The businessman said Mr. Monirul used to claim militants exist in the country, and that his associates still in the police force are now trying to prove this claim true. He added that during the fascist era police would tag anyone they arrested as a militant, and that the same effort continues now, with police staging various kinds of drama to avoid their own responsibility amid the deteriorating law and order situation.

On Saturday, Officer in Charge Mr. Md. Monirul Islam of Sherebangla Nagar police station said a General Diary was filed at DMP’s Sherebangla Nagar police station regarding the 23 people detained Friday. He said police released 11 of them on bond into family custody that night, while officers took the rest to the CTTC office and filed a case against them under the anti-terrorism law.

The investigating officer, CTTC Police Inspector (Unarmed) Mr. Md. Akhtar Morshed, filed a seven day remand request for each of the 12 accused. The remand application states that the DMP’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit learned through technological assistance that several young men had gathered at the Tejgaon Coca-Cola intersection area intending to disrupt peace and order, spread extremism, and carry out a major violent incident. Following this, officers conducted an operation on May 18 and arrested them with the assistance of Tejgaon and Sherebangla Nagar police stations.

Defense lawyer Mr. Masud ur Rahman opposed the remand and filed a bail application, the report states, but the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mr. Arifur Rahman granted three days of remand for each of the accused after hearing arguments.

Police say the accused belong to a secret WhatsApp group called “Meetup,” the report notes.

Those held on remand are Mr. Md. Shihab Uddin (32), Mr. Marzuk Ahmed (26), Mr. Saifur Rahman Khan (32), Mr. Md. Rashmi Mia (29), Mr. Md. Kamichul Islam (36), Mr. Md. Sajjad Hossain (22), Mr. Asif Ahmed (20), Mr. Md. Mohaiminul Haque (27), Mr. Jaozi Chowdhury (19), Mr. Shahadat Hossain (25), Mr. Sabbir Ahmed (26), and Mr. Junayed Ahmed (21).