Shahidul Alam shown arrested, 10-day remand sought

Photographer Shahidul Alam has been shown arrested in a case filed under ICT Act.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) deputy commissioner Masudur Rahman told Prothom Alo on Monday that Shahidul was shown arrested in a case filed with Ramna police station.

Police official said DB’s north division inspector Mehedi Hassan filed the case against Shahidul on charge of “misguiding people circulating fake information in connection with the ongoing student protests and conducting anti-government propaganda on various social media like Facebook”.

The Detective Branch (DB) of police, meanwhile, on Monday sought a 10-day remand for Shahidul, also managing director of Drik Gallery and chairman of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, for interrogation in a case filed under the ICT Act.

On Sunday night, according to his friend Rehnuma Ahmed, a group of plainclothesmen introducing them as members of Detective Branch of police picked up Shahidul from his residence in Dhanmondi.

Quoting security guard Md Jalal, Shahidul’s colleague ASM Rezaur Rahman told Prothom Alo that at least 15 vehicles took position near Shahidul’s residence on Dhanmondi 9/A Road around 8:30pm on Sunday.

A Hiace microbus entered the garage of the building forcefully and some plainclothes got down from the vehicle, claiming to be members of DB, he added.

Rezaur also said they went to Shahidul’s flat at the 3rd floor, picked him up and took him away by the microbus.

“The plainclothes men shut down the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and snatched away the DVR box where CCTV footages were kept right after entering the building,” he added.

Shahidul’s partner Rehnuma said that the microbus had Popular Life Insurance written on it.

According to Rehnuma Ahmed, Shahidul Alam was picked up after giving an interview with Qatar-based news agency Al Jazeera over the ongoing student agitation for safe roads in Bangladesh.