Pink outfit puts Lutfunnahar in peril
Lutfunnahar Luma, an under-grad student of Eden College, was recently arrested because of her pink salwar suit. An unidentified girl who spread rumours on Facebook about students being killed and raped in the ruling Awami League’s party office, had been wearing a pink outfit and so Luma was picked up as a suspect.
Lutfunnahar is the joint convenor of Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Songrokkhon Parishad, the student organisation formed to protest against quota system in public service. She had been wearing a pink salwar suit at a rally of the organisation.
Leaders and activists of the ruling party's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League identified Lutfunnahar as the girl allegedly spreading rumours on Facebook, simply because of her similar outfit. They instigated the police to arrest her, according to Lutfunnahar's friends.
Lutfunnahar also feared that she would be framed.
“I have been out of Dhaka for more than a month,” her FB status read. “I can't recall ever posting any such nonsensical status. They are trying to trap me just because I was involved with a justified movement. But they do not have minimal know-how of Photoshopping.”
The Prothom Alo correspondent found that the Chhatra League had put pressure on the police to arrest Lutfunnahar.
A team of the police's cyber crime unit from Dhaka and Belkuchi police station in Sirajganj raided her house, picked her up in the middle of the night and brought her to Dhaka.
The police later came to know that it was not Lutfunnahar who spread those rumours on Facebook about killing and raping students at AL’s party office during the students protest for safe roads.
However, police booked her in another case filed with Ramna police station and the court approved a three-day remand on Thursday.
Accusing Lutfunnahar of anti-state activities, the Ramna police statement says, anybody could be misguided by her Facebook status and that could lead to a deterioration in law and order.
“Lutfunnahar used her popularity on Facebook to criticise the government in support of the protesting students and also resorted to abusive language. Her statement was provocative,” said additional deputy commissioner Nazmul Islam of the cyber crime division.
The cyber crime division of the police's counter terrorism and transnational crime unit has been investigating the case on Lutfunnahar.
Police mistakenly arrested Tasnim
Police earlier on Tuesday evening picked up Sheikh Tasnim Afroz Imi from in front of Shamsunnahar Hall and released after 5 hour of detention.
The police could not yet clarify why she was detained. They said, they were looking for four girls who allegedly spread rumours on Facebook. Tasnim was picked up mistakenly.
When asked if it was right to pick up a female student without confirming about her crime, additional commissioner of DB police, Md Abdul Baten said, he was not bound to answer such questions.